Trust Me
by Vixen279
Summary: At the end of fourth year, Harry does some thinking and wants to change his life. With the help from a new friend, his life will become even better. I got this idea from Pure as Blood. Weasley bashing, Hermione bashing, Dumbledore bashing. Helpful house elves. The rating is for language and future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the characters of JK Rowling. I just like to play with them. This is my first attempt at a long Harry Potter fic, and I welcome your reviews and comments.**

 **Harry POV**

It was late the night before everyone returned home for the summer at the end of fourth year. Harry Potter hated the way his life was turning out. He had been forced into the Tri-Wizard tournament and everyone had turned on him. Hermione acted like she was on his side, but she tried just a little too hard to get him to forgive Ron for being an arse again. Harry had not forgotten how Ron had behaved when he learned that Harry could speak Parseltongue.

For the first time ever, Harry was thinking and he was wondering why he was even friends with Ron and Hermione. No one else even liked them. He went from being a freak with no friends to being an unwanted celebrity with outcasts for friends. Ron is rude, brash, has a quick temper and he never does any of his schoolwork. He only came to Hogwarts to play Quidditch it seems. Well, this was the end of fourth year and he had not tried out for the team.

Ron wanted to be Head Boy and to be better than his brothers but he was doing nothing to achieve those goals. He argued with Hermione if she even hinted that he should do his work. That plus his having an actual rat for a pet did not add much to the pro column for Ronald Weasley. He never just let Harry have anything without either complaining about his own things, the food on their first train ride, his Christmas sweater, Harry's invisibility cloak, his family. Face it, Ronald Weasley was not a very good friend.

Hermione was different. She made herself an outcast. Did she really think she could just memorize books and suddenly know more than people who had lived in the magical world all of their lives? You would think that she would read a book on personal charms. No one takes her seriously and even the house elves hate her. What good is her know it all behavior going to do her when she graduates? No one will hire her because she tries to make everyone around her seem stupid because she read a book.

Hermione had a great sense of self-importance. It was pathetic and I have noticed that the only boy interested in Hermione this year besides Ron was Viktor Krum and that was because he thought she would be an easy conquest. For all of her talking down about Lavendar and those girls, she acted just like them when she finally got herself a date. What help did she actually give me during the tournament? She showed him the summoning charm which was useful, but for all of her knowledge, it seems to fall short. Did she research detection charms so he could open his mail without being cursed? Come to think of it, why didn't the teachers do that?

No, Harry was on his own and it was time to make some changes. He would treat his life from now on just like when he tended his Aunt Petunia's garden. He would get rid of the weeds and prune out the unnecessary vines and leaves. He needed a life makeover. If no one was going to help him, he would do it himself.

"Your thoughts are very loud, but they are finally free of Nargles, Harry Potter." Harry startled and looked up from his perch on the window seat of an abandoned corridor on the seventh floor to see a girl with very pretty blonde hair that flowed past her shoulders. It was almost a white blonde, but there were other shades mixed into it. Her expression gave the impression that she was slightly dazed. She was also barefoot.

"Hello, you know my name, but I do not know yours." She smiled.

"It's okay, Harry Potter. You had a lot to deal with this year. I could not expect you to notice me. Not many people do and when they do, they call me names. My name is Luna Lovegood, but people call me Looney. I was looking for my belongings." Harry was intrigued with her manner of speech. It did not appear as if it bothered her that her belongings were missing.

"Luna, people should not call you names. Why are your things missing?" She smiled and sat down next to Harry.

"Well, some people are just immature, Harry. The easy answer is that they were taken from me throughout the course of this year by older girls. It made them feel better to bully me you see. I let them because the teachers do nothing about it anyway and I have nothing of real value here with me." Harry leaned towards Luna.

"Luna, would you like it if I called my house elf friend, Dobby to help you?" Luna smiled and nodded.

Harry called Dobby and he arrived quickly bowing and genuflecting."Harry Potter sir has called his Dobby. What can Dobby be doing for the great Harry Potter?" Harry sighed and Luna giggled.

"Dobby, we need you to get all of Luna's things. People have taken them." Dobby thought for a moment.

"Would you like Dobby to get all of Harry Potter's things, too?" Harry looked confused, but he nodded, too. Dobby popped away.

"Harry Potter, I can help you to change your life. If you trust me, I will meet you on the train on the way home. You have to ask Dobby to get you a second trunk from the lost and found. We will leave your original trunk behind and we will take only necessary things. Do you trust me to help you, Harry Potter?" Harry looked at Luna with her pretty smile and sensed a kindred spirit. He nodded at Luna and they shared a brief hug.

Dobby popped back with many things that Harry did not know were his including tapestries, magical items and trinkets and bags of money. This made him very angry. Luna asked Dobby to get another trunk for Harry and they spent some time packing it and making replicas of his things and placing them into his old trunk.

Dobby asked that Harry bond with him, but Harry did not know what that meant. Dobby explained that house elves would die without a master, and Harry immediately said yes and went through the bonding process with Dobby. This led Dobby to asking Luna to bond with Winky and she did so quickly. She then sent Winky to take care of her father and to strengthen their wards at home.

Luna asked Dobby if he knew how to fix Harry's eyesight and he touched Harry's forehead and there was a loud scream and then Harry could see. He placed his glasses into the old trunk and put on a pair that Dobby conjured that had clear glass. He had a new change of clothes that Dobby changed to fit him that he would wear tomorrow. The new trunk was shrunk and placed into his pocket. Dobby put the old trunk back in his dorm room.

Luna hugged Harry again. "I will see you tomorrow, Harry Potter. Do not trust the twinkly eyed chess master, the red haired dust bin or the fake know it all. Trust me." Harry just nodded and let Dobby pop him back to his bed. Tomorrow was going to be the first day of his new life.


	2. Chapter 2 Gringott's

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading.**

 **Harry POV**

At breakfast the next morning, Harry sat next to Neville and ate his food with relish, loving the fact that he did not have to put up with Ron's bad eating habits or Hermione's nagging. He had left Ron sleeping and Hermione was in the library soaking up her last few hours of time before the train came.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Neville was a good friend. Harry finished his food and drank his orange juice. Dobby had decided to supply all of Harry's food, but he was sneaky about it. Harry did like orange juice better than pumpkin juice.

"I am doing alright, Neville. Thank you for asking." Neville was only the second person to ask him if he was okay. Most of the wizarding world now thought he was some type of confused, fame stealing, liar. Minister Fudge denied that Voldemort was back. Harry was seriously thinking that he should just leave them all to it. One minute they love him, and the next minute they hate him. These people were like sheep. They were worse than the neighbors on Private Drive.

Harry looked around and caught eyes with Luna. She smiled and winked at him. That little gesture made Harry feel better than he had all year. Just as he was leaving the Great Hall to gather his trunk, Ron rushed past him in a hurry to get to the tables. Moments later, the food disappeared and it was all Harry could do not to laugh at Ron's face.

Harry whispered to Dobby in an alcove that maybe they should close the kitchen to students for the rest of the day. The arse deserved to know what it felt like to be hungry for a change. He always brushed aside Harry's pain. Ron, Fred and George had seen how his relatives treated him and did their family do anything to help him? Nope. They sure loved being seen as Harry's surrogate family, though huh? Enough of those thoughts!

Harry walked out of the alcove and right into Draco Malfoy who was for once without his bookends.

"Hey Potter, where are your shadows?" He did not sneer as much as usual. Harry shrugged.

"I don't know, Malfoy and I do not care. Have a good summer." He walked away leaving a very shocked and thoughtful Draco Malfoy standing there. Good. He never even started most of their fights. That was Ron. How could an eleven year old suddenly turn evil anyway? Geez, Harry thought to himself, he had been so clueless and he had made many bad choices. Well not anymore. He spent the rest of the few hours he had in the castle walking the halls and making mental plans.

On the train, he waited until Ron and Hermione left the compartment and ditched his old trunk. Harry found an empty compartment and put on his invisibility cloak, which Dobby had cleared of all tracking charms.

Dumbledore did not seem so wise now that Harry knew he only seemed to know everything because he used charms, the portraits and the ghosts to get information on the students. He did not according to Dobby use the house elves for that, though. What a short-sighted old man. Whatever. His thoughts were interrupted when Luna came into the compartment and sat almost in his lap.

"Hello, Harry Potter. First, we will send your relatives a note with this money and they will be compelled to move away at once. When we get off the train, we will take the floo to Gringott's. The goblins there will have much to tell you and when we leave the bank, you will be a whole new young man. Are you with me?" Harry opened his mouth to answer and the compartment door was flung open. It was Ron and Hermione.

"Hello, have you seen our friend, Harry Potter?" Hermione was even smug when school was not in session. There was not even a teacher around for her to impress. She was quite ridiculous. Since he was still under the cloak, Luna just smiled her enigmatic smile and said, "No, I have not seen Harry Potter since I got on the train." They groaned and left without even thanking Luna. Luna just shook her head.

"You will have a good summer with me, Harry Potter. Daddy is going on an expedition and Winky will take care of him. Do you still trust me?" Harry hugged Luna and whispered yes.

When the train arrived at Platform 9 ¾, Harry carefully followed Luna from the train and to the floo where they went through and arrived in the lobby of Gringott's. Luna led him to the inheritance department and told him to sit and wait.

A goblin approached them and glared at Harry who was still under the cloak. "It's about time you answered our letters and showed up here, Mr. Potter." Harry was shocked.

Luna whispered into his ear. Harry stood and took off the cloak. "Honored goblin, I have not ever received mail from Gringott's. I suspect that someone has been tampering with my mail and maybe even has stolen from me. Are you able to assist me with the return of my funds?" Luna whispered to him again.

"Would you please allow me to be seen by your healers as well?" The goblin, Bloodfang, nodded and they followed him into severl hallways and caverns to reach the healers.

"While you are being healed, Mr. Potter, we will audit your accounts and recall all monies, keys and artifacts. This will not take long. I need some of your blood." Harry allowed him to prick his finger and a moment later, he was put into a sleep by Healer Sharpstone. Luna sat right next to him.

"You look very different now. You are not Harry Potter anymore. You will need a new name. How about Rupert?" Harry sat up and shook his head at Luna.

"No, Luna. I do not like that name. What do you mean I look different?" She gave him a mirror and he looked at himself. He now had longer black hair with almost blue highlights. It curled around his head and it seemed to bounce a little. His eyes were the color of turquoise. His scar was gone and when he stood up, he saw that he was now 6'1" tall and he had a slightly muscular build.

"Let's go and talk to Bloodfang to see what other family names I have available to me." She smiled and took my hand and we left after thanking the healer goblins.

In Bloodfang's office, Rhys looked at the parchment that Bloodfang passed him. He was not Harry Potter. According to the parchment, he had been born Rhys Marcus Lexington and his parents had died soon after his birth. He was blood adopted by the Potters in secret when their baby had been stillborn and they got him from an orphanage. They told no one, but the parchment did not lie. Harry looked up from his reading.

"So, can I have all of my Potter, Peverell and Gryffindor vaults closed and moved to the Lexington vaults? I want Harry Potter to disappear, Bloodfang." Bloodfang nodded and agreed to have that handled for a small fee.

"What of your Black inheritance, Mr. Lexington?" Harry thought about it. Luna spoke up.

"Why don't you take the vault and have it moved as well, Rhys? Better safe than sorry. After all, Sirius is your godfather." Rhys smiled and agreed to her plan.

"Please call me Rhys, Bloodfang. Could you remain as my account manager? I need you to close down all of my properties and to eject anyone from them, but making it so that they cannot remember where they are located." Bloodfang made another note.

"Let us proceed with your emancipation, Rhys." Rhys put on his new head of house rings and they merged into one. There was a flash of light and he found that he had a lot of knowledge in his head now. It was quite a rush. Luna spoke up again.

"Bloodfang, would the goblins be able to render down the basilisk that Rhys here killed two years ago?"

Bloodfang's eyes narrowed on Rhys. "Why did you not mention this to me?" Rhys looked sheepish.

"Sorry, I forgot about it. Please have that done. I can record the parseltongue password for you and you can take 10%. I would like the skins for armor and the venom, but the meat can be sold and the profits placed into my vaults. Thank you, Bloodfang." The goblin just nodded and made a note on a form and that disappeared along with the recording crystal.

"We have retrieved all of the monies and artifacts and books that were stolen from you. The guilty parties have had fees attached to their vaults. The list includes Albus Dumbledore, Molly Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger and Ginerva Weasley. Fees were also paid to the Dursely family monthly." Harry was not even surprised. Well, that settled that.

"Please place the home at Number four Private Drive under the fidelius charm with yourself as the secret keeper. Is it possible for Luna and I to use your time chamber for an inside time of one year to train with hired tutors? As I understand it, the outside time would be one day. I am willing to pay whatever the cost is, Bloodfang."

Bloodfang just grinned a scary grin and Luna squeezed his hand. He made more notes that disappeared and the three continued to make plans over dinner. It was agreed that Dobby would go into training with them and the fees would come out of the profits from the basilisk sale. Rhys just sat back and smiled. His life was definitely changing and for the better.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading.**

In the lonely and dreary House of Black, Sirius Black sat with a tumbler of firewhisky lamenting his life. He seemed to make one bad decision after another. Right now he was seriously contemplating leaving and taking his pup with him. A sudden pop was heard and a house elf he did not recognize stood before him with a note. He took the note with shaky hands and read it.

"Please solemnly swear if you trust me, Padfoot, love Prongslet." Sirius spoke the words to the map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The note transformed. "Padfoot, if you trust me, say the following phrase: I, Lord Black do hereby annul the marriage of Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black to Rudolphus Lestrange. I, Lord Black do hereby recall the dowry of Bellatrix Black. I, Lord Black do hereby cast out Bellatrix Black from the House of Black."

Sirius sat back. Why hadn't he thought to do that sooner? It made sense. The note was glowing again. What now? Fine, he would say the new phrases. "I, Lord Black do hereby recall all Black artifacts, books, and items back to this house." There was a moment of silence, and then a large pile of said items appeared.

"I, Lord Black do hereby take control of the wards of this house and activate the intent-based wards. None who wish harm upon any members of the House of Black may enter. None who wish harm upon my godson may enter. The location of this house will be struck from their minds."

Sirius sat back and thought. Someone had been stealing from him and people wished him harm, but still came inside the house? He turned to the bouncing house elf.

"Hello, do you have orders?" The elf bowed and seemed a little hyper.

"Yes, I am to help you to clean this house and I am to remove all books and artifacts to the Black Vault which has been locked down. You are to write to Miss Narcissa to see if she wants to annul her marriage, sir. I will add elf wards and start removing anything harmful to a separate vault in the bank. When you took control of the house, your elf died."

Sirius just nodded. He would take the advice of the little elf who seemed very hyper the more he talked. He ate his dinner and went to sleep only to be awakened by Fawkes flashing into his room.

Sirus sat up and looked around. His room was clean and things shone with beauty. Was he still at Grimmauld Place? Fawkes was holding a note and Sirius reached out to take it, but the elf popped into the room and stopped him. "Master Sirius is not touching any mail without checking it for charms first."

Oh, right. Dumbledore would put charms on a letter to him? Well, here goes nothing. He got out his wand and checked and there were compulsion charms, a mild obliviate charm to forget what the letter said as soon as he read it and a reverse portkey charm which would bring Dumbledore to wherever he was. Sirius burned the letter and looked at Fawkes.

"Why did you not bring him here yourself, Fawkes? I guess he cannot get inside because he must mean me or Harry harm?" The bird had shrugged and nodded. Fine.

"Fawkes, please do not help Dumbledore to get to Harry or to me." The bird released a feather and left. Sirius picked up the feather and as soon as it touched his wand, it glowed and disappeared inside his wand. Sirius tried a repairing charm on his bed and it was now like new. Wow. Thanks Fawkes.

Sirius sat deep in thought. "House elf, what is your name?" The elf smiled.

"I have changed my name to Socks, sir." And then the elf giggled. Okay, that is a weird house elf.

"Will you do me a favor?" The elf nodded and continued to smile.

"Will you find Peter Pettigrew and force him into his rat form and place him into an unbreakable cage and give him to Madam Amelia Bones with a note that I will write?" The elf shook his head no.

What? "Why not?" The elf just pet Sirius on the shoulder and handed him a potion to drink, which he did and he felt incredibly better.

"Sirius sir you are slow. My other master has already ordered me to do that. I have bad news for you. You cannot be trusting Mr. Wolfman. He is a lackey for Mr. Twinkly Whiskers. He will do whatever he says." That was a blow to Sirius. He thought Remus was on his side.

"Now you is to be getting up, Master Sirius and getting dressed. I have breakfast ready downstairs and I have finished the cleaning while you were sleeping. You have a guest for breakfast and the potion was from him. Be nice please." Sirius nodded and the elf disappeared.

Once he was dressed and shaved, he realized that he looked much healthier. He looked like Lord Black. He went to his jewelry case and put on his Head of House ring. He got the zing from the ring like always.

Fine. He kept wishing it was not Snape in his kitchen, but there was nothing for it. He walked into the kitchen to see Snape looking, dare he say handsome? When he saw Sirius, he bowed his head. What? His hair was shiny and thick and not greasy.

"Hello, Lord Black. I am Lord Prince. I received a note from that house elf of yours telling me I probably had binds on my magic and charms upon my person. I headed to the bank last evening and I was seen by their healers. I discovered that I had been charmed to hate you and your friends since our school days. I was also under a charm to get progressively more bad tempered and for my appearance to be evil looking. They also fixed my nose." He almost whispered the last sentence and it made Sirius laugh.

"I was able to claim my lordship and reclaim monies that had been stolen from me. I packed and left Hogwarts." He rolled up his sleeve. There was no dark mark there.

"I have changed my name to Sebastian Septimus Prince. Please do call me by that name. I have also been deaged by five years. I set my house in Spinner's End aflame, thus killing Severus Snape. I am now my own cousin. Go ahead and laugh, Black. I know you want to." That was it for Sirius; he laughed and walked over to Sebastian and shook his hand.

"Thank you for the potion and welcome to the House of Black. You are welcome to stay here and to use the potions lab. No one who wishes those who dwell here harm can enter the house. Guess who cannot get inside?"

"Well, it would not be me, huh, cousin?" That voice came from behind him.

Sirius turned to see his cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. The metamorphmagus was distinctively not clumsy this morning. He bowed to her and she giggled.

"How come you are not tripping all over things, Tonks?" She smiled at him.

"Nope. Not until you read this note." She handed him a note that instructed him to reinstate her and her mother into the House of Black. It was signed Prongslet. He sighed. His pup was very bossy.

Sirius spoke the oath and Tonks stood up even taller. "Sirius. I got a note from Harry. He said I was under charms and compulsions because I should not be clumsy. I never was until I went to Hogwarts, and then suddenly it was harder for me to morph and I was always running into things and tripping. I took Mum with me to the bank and we got checked over. I realized I do not want to be an Auror. I want to be a curse breaker. I work for Gringott's now as a trainee. I start in a couple of days. They fired Bill Weasley. Something about theft."

Sirius just shook his head and sat down. Tonks was staring at Sebastian. "Well, hello there professor. You look mighty dreamy over there." The former Professor almost blushed. "So, any idea where Harry is? I got a note today asking me to help search for him. I don't think he is really in danger if he helped the three of us." She sat down and ate some pancakes.

Sirius thought about it. His mind was much clearer today. "Well, I changed the wards on this house so that no one with ill will towards my family or my pup can enter. They will also forget about the location. Heh heh. There is a house elf, but he comes and goes. I guess he is delivering more notes and instructions." Sebastian nodded and drank his tea.

"I was hesitant to believe a note from the brat, but he included a magical oath and he promised me basilisk parts if I went to the bank, so it was a given that I would go and check things out. It was an incredibly fortuitous meeting that I had with the goblins and so I find myself in the brat's debt."

Tonks just sighed. "You have such a sexy voice, Lord Prince." Sirius choked on his bacon. "Stop that! I am the Lord of your family and you are not allowed to date Lord Prince!" They both looked at him in shock. He sighed. "At least do not flirt in front of me! Give me a break, Nymphie!" She bristled and he looked scared and then she just laughed.

"That is another thing. I like my name! When did I start hating to be called Nymphadora? That would be a year after starting at Hogwarts. What is wrong with that man?" Just then, the elf, Socks, came back holding the Daily Prophet.

"Wow, look at the headlines."

PETER PETTIGREW ALIVE! PETTIGREW POTTER'S REAL SECRET KEEPER! STORY BELOW!

SIRIUS BLACK DECLARED INNOCENT! RESTITUTION AWARDED TO LORD BLACK! STORY ON PAGE 2!

YOU KNOW WHO ALIVE! SEE PETTIGREW'S TESTIMONY UNDER VERITASERUM ON PAGE 5!

CORNELIUS FUDGE OUSTED AS MINISTER FROM VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE! AMELIA BONES NEW MINISTER SEE PAGE 3!

SEVERUS SNAPE DEAD! STORY ON PAGE 10!

"Wow, I get page ten," Septimus fake scowled, and then they all laughed. A knocking on the door broke them out of their thoughts. Before Sirius could get up, the elf was back.

"I will be checking to see who it is, Lord Black. Please drink your tea. I have also redirected any harmful mail and I have sent all good mail to your office. You will write a letter of thanks that I can send to the people who congratulated you. That is half of the good letters. I will be back."

Sirius just stared at the elf. "He is a bossy little elf. I think he belongs to Pup." Tonks and Sebastian just continued to stare at each other.

The elf came back with Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott. They bowed. "Good morning, Lord Black. Salutations and a hearty congratulations to you on your acquittal. This is my friend Theodore Nott. Neither of us have a dark mark nor do we wish it. I have come primarily to deliver my mother's note." He hands it over, and Sirius reads it. Fine. He said the oath to annul the marriage and to recall the dowry and lockdown Malfoy Manor which had belonged to the Blacks.

"Sir, would you permit us to stay in the Black home in Italy? My friend Blaise is from Italy and I would like to spend time visiting that country." Sirius just blinked at Draco.

"Sure, kid. Just know that the intent wards are up and no one can get into any of the Black properties that wishes us ill harm. Give this note to your mother. Why are you so pleasant?" It was killing him.

Draco blushed. "I got a note from an anonymous new friend. He said my behavior was not one of cunning and that I acted almost like a Gryffindor. I was highly offended. He offered me a new Firebolt if I went to Gringott's and got checked. He was right and I got the charms all removed from me. I had a binding on my core as well. I told all of my friends to go and most of us had been tampered with. Now I feel better, I can think clearly and I have a new broom." He preened.

"So, my new friend also recommended that I stay in Italy for the summer and that we could meet up. I believe I will continue to follow this friend's advice. Thank you for allowing us the use of your home."

Sirius waved him off. "Kid, stop being all proper with me. Call me Sirius. I am just glad you got the stick out of your arse. Where is that elf?" The elf, Socks, popped back into the room.

"You needed me, Master Sirius? Did you do the letter yet?" Sirius handed him the freshly written letter. He had such nice penmanship. His mother had insisted that he learn calligraphy.

"Socks, do you have the elves at the villa working to clean it, yet?" The elf nodded.

"Yes, Master Sirius. They have their orders already. You should visit Italy and be seen shopping and such with your niece and Lord Prince. No interviews! Here is your next potion to take. Lunch will be ready at noon. Please go and ready your mail. Master Draco, here are some cookies I know you like." With that he popped away.

"Was that Dobby?" Draco stared at his favorite cookies.

"Nope. He said he changed his name to Socks." Sirius was walking to his office. That potion was like a pepper up or something. He felt invigorated. The motley crew just followed him. When he opened the door he was struck dumb. There on his desk was at least a hundred letters.

"Well, don't just stand there, Sebastian. Help me out here." He looked at Sebastian who gave him the raised eyebrow.

"Black, what is in it for me?" He picked an imaginary piece of lint off of his sleeve. Sirius smiled.

"I can help you to become an animagus, and I can show your little godson over there as well." Draco gasped.

"Uncle Sev!" He ran forward and hugged Septimus. "I thought you had died! They say it was a potions accident." Sebastian patted Draco on the back.

"Yes, that is what I wanted people to think. I have changed my name. Now you will address me as Sebastian Prince. Why don't you send that letter to your mother with the elf and we can talk while we help Black with all of his mail?" Draco smiled.

"Thanks, Uncle, I would like that." Sirius clapped.

"Great! Yo, Socks!" The elf popped back into the room.

"Yes, Master Sirius? When you finish these letters and have lunch, the tailor will be here to measure you for your new wardrobe. You cannot be going to Italy looking like you do. The House of Black has an image to uphold." Sirius just blinked.

"Why are you so bossy? I need you to take this note to Narcissa." The elf just grinned.

"I have orders from your Prongslet. He said to tell you one thing at a time because you have a short attention span. Now, please do the letters. There is a snack on the table. I will be taking the letter." He popped away and everyone laughed at Sirius.

"Maybe he is right. Okay, people. Chop chop!" He had a lot to do and he had a feeling he would see his pup in Italy. He would do anything for his Pup. As he wrote form letters for the group to use, all he could think was 'I cannot believe I am friends with Snape.'


	4. Chapter 4

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading.**

Far away from central London, several similar notes were being received. Neville Longbottom, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Morag MacDougal, Lisa Turpin, Anthony Goldstein, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Megan Jones, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis all received notes that sent them to Gringott's and then on a shopping spree and then to Italy. It was all a part of the plan to already have friends when he returned to Hogwarts in the fall.

Rhys Jamiel Lexington and Luna Selene Lovegood walked along Diagon Alley hand in hand. They looked amazing. Rhys, who had grown another inch, was wearing black dragon hide trousers with a crisp white button down shirt and an open cloak that came to mid-thigh in the front and to his knees in the back. Luna was wearing a light blue dress with open robes of slightly darker blue. She was wearing dragon hide boots that came to her knees and had a 4" heel. Her hair was swept up into a high ponytail and Rhys loved to play with it.

They were picking up their trunks, which had 5 compartments and an apartment inside just in case. They had learned a lot during their training and they had decided to develop a circle of friends and to take their exams at the ministry, which they had.

Luna would now be in the fifth year classes and Rhys had been enrolled as a fifth year even though Madam Marchbanks said he could go into the sixth year. He had declined the advancement. The trunks were ready and they shrunk them and decided to get ice cream at Fortescue's before taking their portkey to the villa that Rhys owned in Italy. Socks had promised that it was cleaned and stocked and that Bitsy was waiting for them there.

They both got cookie ice cream and sat at an outdoor table. "You look so handsome, Rhys." He smiled and took her hand.

"Stop that, Luna girl. You know I am more than my looks. Besides it is you that has such an undying beauty." She no longer looked spacey. She had trained her mage sight and she could control it more now. Her hair was a little curlier and her figure was a little curvier. They had spent an additional day at the bank getting their affairs in order and they would be meeting with their new friends later for dinner. Just then, they overheard the conversation from the next table.

"What do you mean all of your books disappeared, Hermy?" They heard a small sob.

"I mean that they were gone when I woke up, Ronald, and do not call me Hermy! I went to the bank and all of my accounts are empty! That could only happen if Harry found out that I got that money from his accounts! I got those books from Dumbledore! Why would he take them back?" Rhys held in his laughter.

"I went to the bank, too and all of my hard earned money is gone! When I see Potter again, I am going to make him give me that money back. I deserve it for being his friend all of this time! I cannot stand that attention seeking speck git!" He was shushed.

"Quiet, Ronald. Do you want people to hear you? You are supposed to be his friend after all. Didn't you read the papers? They caught Peter Pettigrew so that means Sirius Black is free. He will get custody of Harry and he won't have to stay at his aunt's house anymore." Ron grumbled.

"The git will really be stuck up now. He never once bought me anything and he is rich! What good is it being his best mate when he won't buy me anything?" Hermione just glared at him.

"You are an idiot, Ronald! You were getting money from his vaults. You could have bought something for yourself!" Ron whined at her.

"My mother said I could not because it would look suspicious!" Just then an owl landed in front of Hermione. She read the letter and gasped.

"This letter says that Harry is missing and that no one knows where he lives anymore. He has not been seen since we were on the train. What are we going to do, Ronald?" Ron just snorted and ate his ice cream.

"Who cares? I hope You know Who gets him." Hermione smacked him with a book.

"Think, you moron! If he is missing and they do not find him, who will be our friends? People only speak to me because of Harry. I will be an outcast again! This is horrible. The letter says to let Professor Dumbledore know at once if we get a letter from Harry. You know we must do whatever he says Ronald." Ron just grunted.

"Yeah, yeah. I will be glad when we can start using the love potions on him so he can fall in love with Ginny. My mother says she cannot do the marriage contract without Harry's signature." Rhys smiled at that thought. He was now glad that he had not given any of the money from the basilisk to those three.

He turned to Luna and kissed her cheek. "Let's go, Luna love. We have a schedule to keep and you do not want Socks to come and nag us." She giggled and they walked right past his bickering ex-friends. He would be forever glad that he decided to trust Luna. The goblins are amazing. They helped him immensely and they agreed to screen all of his mail ahead of time. He had already sent several letters to the Prophet from Harry Potter. Dumbledore would not be having a good summer.

Sirius arrived at the Black Manor in Italy and he was greeted by a female house elf that was wearing a dress and an apron. She walked around him and then she smiled at him. "Hello, Master Sirius and Master Prince. Hello Heir Black and Heir Nott, Heiress Tonks Black. Socks has told me that I should expect you. Here is another note from your Prongslet. Give me your trunks and I will unpack them. Dinner is being held on the back patio. Just follow me. Do not dawdle and no being a dog in the house, Lord Black. It is not befitting a gentleman of your station." She stood there looking imperiously at Sirius who looked sad, and then she laughed.

"You is easy to fool! No, this is your home. Please try not to shed on the furniture. Follow Jewel to the dinner table."

"Well, Black, you have another bossy elf." Sebastian remarked with amusement.

"I like her. She has a cute dress, Cousin." Tonks took Sebastian's arm and walked though to the patio.

"We cannot stay, Cousin Sirius. We are to meet with our friend for dinner." Draco and Theo looked apologetic. Sirius waved him off.

"No problem, kid. Just make sure you are back by 10pm. Do you know how to do the patronus charm?" Draco shook his head and Sirus nodded.

"Okay then, you call Jewel or Socks and they will bring you home. Have fun! Wow, pot pies! I love pot pies!" Sebastian sighed.

"Yes, do go and try to make a good impression. Be Draco Black, not Draco Malfoy." Draco nodded.

"Yes, Uncle. I will not be a pompous little blowhard. See you later." He and Theo left to the floo room.

So, Black, what will you do now that you are free? Will you make waves on the Wizengamot or will you court a woman? Will you work, maybe on a prank shop? You were good at pranks during school.

Sirius thought it over as he ate. "I will court the lovely Hestia Jones. If I can get her away from Dumbledore's clutches. She was going to join the order the last I heard." There was a pop and this time Socks was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt that said "University of Fun". Sirius laughed.

"What are you wearing?" Socks just grinned." My master said it is the summer and that I should pick what I like to wear so I picked this. I love these shoes. The Americans call them sneakers by Jordan and no one is allowed to step on them. Did you read the note?" Dammit. He had not read the note yet.

He opened the note that said he should send a letter to the woman he liked and that he should ask Narcissa to handle his proxy on the Wizengamot. It also said no drinking and that he would meet him here before breakfast. He turned to Socks to request parchment and found him already holding it. He just glared at the bossy little elf. Those shoes did look comfy. He wrote the two letters and gave them to Socks. Then he settled back in his seat and enjoyed the view while he tried to ignore the flirting taking place at the other side of the table. Maybe he should write to Andy and have her visit. He opened his mouth to call Socks and he showed up.

"No, Master Sirius. Mistress Andromeda is spending time in France with her sister and her husband and will not come here yet. She sends her regards to you." This elf was smart and he knew what I was thinking all the time.

"You said that out loud, Cousin." Oh! I know what I can do!

"Socks, please get all of my journals from my vault and the marauder journals. I will write a book on becoming an animagus and I will write a book on the rules that the teachers do not want the students to know at Hogwarts. This way I can stop seeing you two being all lovey dovey while I wait for Hestia to write me back." Sebastian just smiled. His teeth were no longer crooked!

"I thank you for your lassitude in this matter, Lord Black. I find myself wanting to court this fine young lady. I know she is a daughter of your house and I assure you that my intentions are honorable." Sirius sighed.

"As Lord Black I give you leave to court my cousin. As me I say you had better behave or else, Prince!" Sebastian just smiled and waited for dessert which was a gooey chocolate cake. He adored dark chocolate!

"Wow! I love this cake!" Sirius dug in and enjoyed his dessert along with some simply sublime coffee. Food tasted better now that he was free and he looked even more handsome as a free man. Just then, Socks popped in again.

"Master Sirius, I forgot to tell you that Master Xeno Lovegood will be here tomorrow afternoon to interview you and to take your picture for the Quibbler. Jewel will lay out your robes and you will wear them. Here are the answers to his questions. No you cannot change them. Have a good night and enjoy your writing." He popped away.

"It seems you have some studying to do, Black. Miss Tonks, would you accompany me on a walk about the grounds before we retire for the evening?" Tonks giggled again.

"Sure, Sebastian. I might as well live it up before I start my training in a couple of days. See you later, Cousin." They walked away arm in arm. Jewel popped in with a note from Narcissa saying that she would take over the proxy votes at the next session in August. The next pop was from Socks with a note from Hestia thanking him for the flowers and for the advice to go to Gringott's. She had already gone with her niece Megan and she was staying with her friend so she would see him tomorrow and she looked forward to it. What flowers?

"Master Sirius wanted to be courting Miss Jones so Socks took her orchids with an everlasting charm placed on them so they would not wilt." Damn, he loved this elf.

"You are awesome, Socks. You do your master proud." Socks blushed.

"Socks has the best master ever! Goodnight Master Sirius." Sirus nodded and walked to his bedroom which also had a patio and got into his pajamas. He decided to write while in bed. It was a lovely summer evening after all.

Fawkes flashed into the room with another note. Sirius removed all of the charms and asked Jewel to read it to him. She took off another charm before starting to read.

"Dear Sirius, do you know where Harry lives? None of us can remember it. We only know that his trunk was found on the train yesterday and his relatives left the station without him. No one has seen or heard from him and letter mailed to him return unopened. I fear he has been captured by death eaters. There is a problem with headquarters. Are you able to fix the wards? For some reason, we cannot gain entry into the home."

"This is signed by Headmaster Whiskers, Master Sirius." He thanked Jewel and told Fawkes to wait. He wrote a brief note saying the wards on the house are the Black family wards and that since he is Lord Black, the wards responded to his needs. No one with ill intent can enter and does that mean the headmaster wishes him harm? He wrote that he had not seen or heard from Harry. That was true. He had heard from his Prongslet. He sent the letter off with Fawkes and started writing his new book. He had a lot of energy tonight. Hestia said yes and she would be here tomorrow.

At Lexington Manor, Rhys stood in the front hall with Luna waiting for their guests. Neville Longbottom arrived first with his grandmother. Rhys bowed. "Welcome to Lexington Manor, Dowager Longbottom and Heir Longbottom. I wish to introduce myself, I am Rhys Jamiel Lexington. You may be acquainted with Luna Selene Lovegood. She is this beautiful creature next to me." They bowed and curtsied.

"It is good to meet you, Lord Lexington. Thank you for your notes. We had several charms and spells removed from ourselves. I have had my son and daughter in law moved to the goblin healers. They said that they can be cured in two days and brought up to speed so to speak in another three day!" She stepped forward and hugged Rhys.

"Is it true? Were you really…?" Neville is looking at Rhys. Rhys nodded and Neville surged forward and they hugged for a long while.

"I thought you were captured by death eaters!" Rhys pulled back. "Nev, I had so many spells and charms on me that I looked totally different. I was adopted. There is no Harry Potter. I would like your oaths not to tell about that. I trust you, but it stops anyone from getting the information from you by using legilmency or truth serum." They both took the oath and sat in the the living room drinking tea.

Rhys greeted Draco Black, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini and Millicent Bulstrode who looked quite beautiful. He bowed to them and kissed Millicent's hand which earned him a growl from Theo.

"I assure you Nott, this lovely lady to my left has won my affections. Welcome to Lexington Manor. You can give Bitsy your trunks and she will take them to your rooms. I will be attending Hogwarts in the fall and Luna told me you were worth meeting. I hope we can become good friends. I also hope you will see the value of not alienating members of other houses. Some of them will be here as well and they will be potential business associates one day." He turned to Draco and held out his hand.

"Greetings, Draco Black. I am Rhys Jamiel Lexington. It is a pleasure to meet you." Draco smiled and shook the outstretched hand.

"I will call you Lex. Of course we will be good friends. You saved me already from those damnable charms and you saved my mother. Now where are we gathering before dinner?" Rhys smiled and pointed them towards the living room.

Daphne Greengrass, her sister Astoria and Tracey Davis arrived next and Rhys greeted them in the same fashion. Luna offered to show them into the living room and they followed her. Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet came together and Rhys kissed their cheeks. He told them that he heard they were perfect Gryffindors and that they were welcome in his manor for the summer.

When Morag MacDougal, Lisa Turpin and Anthony Goldstein arrived, they just stared at him. Right, Ravenclaws. He bowed. "Please feel free to ask any questions." They peppered him with questions which he answered patiently. Why had he chosen them to be friends with, what year was he going into, was he dating Lovegood, where was the library. He laughed and said they could visit the library after dinner. Luna came back and escorted them to the living room where Theo and Neville were playing chess and the Gryffindor Chasers were cooing over Daphne while Astoria stared at Draco and he stared back when she was not looking. Blaise and Milli thought it was hilarious and kept up a whispering conversation.

Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones and Megan Jones popped in with her aunt Hestia. "Good evening, Miss Jones, ladies. I am Rhys Lexington. Welcome to my Manor. I am not sure you are familiar with my companion. This is Luna Lovegood. I have invited you to stay the summer or as long as you please to give me a chance to meet people from each house at Hogwarts since I will be starting there this fall. Please do not hold any hostility for those of Slytherin house that are here. They also had charms on them." The group nodded and shook hands with him.

Once everyone was seated in the living room and had met each other, Rhys stood again. "I propose that for the summer we learn about the world around us. I have homes in Spain, this one in Italy and another in Florida. There is an amusement park there called Disney World that I think you would all love. I have always wanted to travel and I think that in addition to brushing up on our schoolwork, summer should be a time to do just that. I apologize in advance for inviting Sirius Black to come with us. Yes I know he is innocent, but he is a prankster, so beware." They laughed.

"Please follow me into the dining room. Dowager Longbottom, your portkey is permanent and it is a broach. You may of course come and go at your leisure. This potion is for you. It will make you feel years younger." She looked at him and took the potion. Her hair got a little darker and fuller and her posture became straighter, and wrinkles disappeared from her face.

"Young man, if you were a little older, I would kiss you on the mouth, propriety be damned!" Rhys laughed.

"Madam please. My Luna is quite possessive and she likes kissing me." Luna came up to them.

"Maybe when we are older, Madam Longbottom." They all laughed. Dinner was a fun affair and it was great to see the kids from all of the houses getting along. Luna smiled at Rhys. Their plan was working!


	5. Chapter 5

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading.**

 **Harry POV**

"Thank you for agreeing to go on this walk around the grounds with me, Drake. I hope you do not think anything by me giving you the Firebolt? I had to think of a way to appeal to you and to get your attention being that you do not know me." Draco looked at me like I was crazy.

"It was a Slytherin move, Lex. I truly wanted the broom and you have to be able to trust the goblins. I know I usually give off a pompous attitude, but since those charms and other spells were removed, I can see that it cost me the opportunity to make some really decent friends and acquaintances. I do not think you are the type to hold something over a person's head. I am looking forward to these muggle trips you mentioned and seeing more of the world. We travel, but we mostly go to balls and wineries. It can be deadly boring." I sighed with relief.

"I am very relieved that we cleared that up. Now, let's see what you have in the air, Drake!" I kicked off and we were off chasing each other in the fading light of the sunset. We deemed our little impromptu race a tie and headed into the house. I will always be close to Neville, but I have also always felt a connection to Draco. Now that we are free to really be ourselves, I can see that it is a connection of friendship.

There was a pop before I made it to my room. It was Socks. I had to get used to that name. He was dressed in cargo pants with a lot of pockets and a hoodie jacket that read Lions. It was blue.

"Hello, Master Rhys. The house elves at Hogwarts are loving your cleaning up of all spells and charms idea. They agreed to remove all spells from the dorms and the Great Hall that do not belong there. The Head Elf also said that they will clean the Chamber of Secrets and the Room of Requirement." What?

"Socks, what is the Room of Requirement?" He bounced on his feet.

"It is also being called the Come and Go Room. The room can turn into whatever is needed. If you want a room to study, then you pace back and forth three times thinking about it and the door will open on a quiet room that you thought about. Some people and the house elves use it for the lost and found. So, the Head Elf is going to sort the things there and place them into the Hogwarts vault if they do not belong to anyone." This sounded great!

"Socks, please make sure that any Potter, Lexington, Peverell, Black and Gryffindor items are placed into the Lexington vault." He looked at me like I was dumb.

"Yes, yes, Master Rhys. Socks is being small not stupid. We have thought of that. Any harmful items will be turned over to Ragnok to have the curses removed. This project is very hush hush and a lot of elves wanted the extra work so we is all keeping the secrets." I just sighed at him.

"Can we just agree that we both thought of it, Socks? You know I depend on you; I do not think that you are stupid. Now, speaking of stupid, please give me copies of the Prophet so I can see the expose's myself that will appear. Thank you again for talking to the Dumbledore's old house elf, Sparkle." Socks shuddered.

"That poor elf. She will do anything for something shiny." I laughed a little.

"Tomorrow, I will meet Sirius for breakfast. Please let the group know that I had a morning meeting and let them ride on the golf carts to the mini golf arena. I will bring Sirius back with me." He nodded and bowed and popped away.

I turned to go into my room and I was stopped again by Luna."Hello, Luna love. What is wrong?" She blinked at me.

"Rhys, I have slept next to you for a long time. I am not stopping now. Let's move it. You took a long time talking to Mittens." I laughed at her and let her into my room and I followed her.

"Luna, you know he wants to be called Socks." She shrugged and took off her robe and slippers.

"Maybe when it is cold, he can go by Mittens, Rhys." I snorted at her and we cuddled in the center of the bed.

"Do you change your name with the weather, Luna love?" She sighed and pouted in the dark.

"Cheer up. You get to meet Sirius tomorrow." She perked up and bounced a little.

"I cannot wait to ask him about being a member of a singing group! Do you think Stubby Boardman will give me an autograph, Rhys?" Yup.

"Of course he will, but it will be faked. Now, go to sleep." She sighed and tossed a little, taking me with her. She thought it was fun and soon we were tickle fighting. I won when she fell off the bed.

"Fine, you won. Now tell me my favorite bedtime story, Rhys." She really loved this story.

"Once upon a time, there was an evil Weasley mother who tried to set up her daughter with the hero, but the hero ran away and the evil mother kept searching for him until one day, she died. You know you are kind of morbid, Lu." She cackles.

"You are mine! All mine!" I just looked at her.

"Stop it. I do not like Evil Luna." She flopped over on her back.

"Yes you do. You just think the sweet girl I pretend to be is all sunshine and snitches. I am perfectly evil, Rhys." I just lie there waiting her out.

"Fine, I am not evil and I could not hurt a puffskin, but I will hurt those who tried to hurt and use you. Now all you have to do is to keep listening to my advice, okay?" I nod. I know my lines.

"I trust you, Lu. You are my special girl, you know." She smiled and kissed my cheek and finally settled down to sleep. I stayed awake and thought for a while. I wonder how old Twinkly Whiskers is doing. Heh heh.

 **Dumbledore POV**

This was not a good day. At all. School was out and I was still having student problems. I spent most of the day asking myself the same question. Where on earth is that dratted boy? He was supposed to be at his home at? What is the Merlin damned address?

Even though I have covertly sent many members of the Order of the Phoenix out to search for him, I had to do it quietly. I need to keep his disappearance out of the public's knowledge or it will be pandemonium, especially since Pettigrew verified under veritaserum that Voldemort is back. Just when he needed his weapon he could not find it.

And the trunk held nothing of importance: some old worn oversized clothes, the Lockhart textbooks and some parchment, quills and ink. The broom in the trunk was a transfigured replica that Ronald found out when Molly took it to him and he tried to fly it off of a hill. The lad will be fine after some skelegrow.

There was no money and the invisibility cloak was not in the trunk. The boy could be anywhere and my hopes of contacting Gringott's about him were dashed when I received this letter from them via certified owl post:

 _'Dear Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore, It has come to our attention that you have meddled with and stolen from the accounts belonging to one Harry James Potter. This oversight has been corrected by having the funds removed from your account and any accounts that had stolen monies from Harry James Potter's account. You are now banned from all Gringott's branches and your remaining monies have been transferred to the dwarves in Switzerland. Should you physically show up at any Gringott's, we will consider you turning yourself in to work in the Dragon pens as penance for your thievery.' May your enemies tremble before you in fear, Ragnok, Director of Gringott's'_

After I received that note, I had gone to my personal library which contained a hundred years' worth of books I had purloined from the estates of orphans or families that were killed in the last war. Any theft would be blamed on death eaters and many of the orphans would not know they owned the rare tomes anyway.

When I had opened the secret passageway, I found that none of the books and grimoires were there. After that, I will admit, I trashed my office and I even destroyed the little trinkets that tracked Harry Potter when I noticed that the Potter Pensieve was missing. Even Fawkes' perch was missing. They even took my golden throne from the Great Hall!

Neither Ronald nor Hermione had heard from Harry Potter. The boy had no other friends. On an inspiration, I then tried to contact Neville Longbottom only to discover that the boy was already on holiday and Augusta's note said that they were not with Harry Potter. She would not lie to me, not with the spells I have on her. And now I have this queasy feeling. What is that about?

I looked out of the window at the sunset and wondered whether things could get any worse when I noticed a group of goblins headed towards the castle. What are they doing here? I read the note again. It did not say anything about coming here for me?

I called Fawkes, but the blasted bird was not coming. I could just apparate, but what if they are already at my ancestral home just in case I try to go there? I know, I will just apparate to Potter Manor. With a twist, I shifted and thought about Potter Manor. I remember immense pain and a loud gonging sound before I landed right here in the tar filled pits of Brazil. How did this happen?

 **Sirius POV**

I was awakened by a loud pop right by my face. I jumped out of the bed and promptly fell onto the floor face down. I never hit the floor, but I stopped two inches from the floor and heard a high pitched giggling. Can I kill a house elf? I thought Kreacher was bad, but Jewel seems to be quite a prankster. I sat on the side of the bed and waited until she stopped laughing.

"Master Sirius is to get showered and to shave and to get dressed. Your Pup is coming and he needs to talk to you." She leaned really close to my face.

"If you hurt his feelings, maybe Jewel will let you fall from a cliff next time you wake up. Be nice and be patient and be supportive. Now go and get dressed. I have a manor to supervise and next time you could say good morning and maybe say my dress be looking nice. I have a rude master. Socks has the best master ever! He is so obedient!" She popped away again. Wow. Pup is coming!

Once I was dressed in a tee shirt and jeans with some of those sneakers, with an open red robe, I strolled into the dining room and I was greeted with laughter.

"Black, who are you supposed to be? You are the Lord Black, you cannot dress like an American teenager." I hate him a little bit.

"Just for that, you are not getting your shoes, Prince. They are so comfy and you stand all day doing potions. You will be begging me for these shoes and I will laugh at YOU." I huff and sit down to eat my oatmeal and eggs. Jewel popped in and smacked my hand.

"Just wait! He is almost here!" Man, she is really mad. "Jewel, you look nice to day." She smiled and thanked me. I reached out for a muffin only for the plate to move away from me. Dammit!

I leaned over further and the plate kept moving. Laughter and giggles were heard.

"Padfoot, give up. The elves are smarter than us!" I turn and see a handsome bloke and a cute little blonde girl.

"Can I speak to you in private or will you and Lord Prince and Miss Tonks take an oath not to repeat what I tell you?" I look at Sebastian and Nymphie. They both take the oath and I do too.

He sits down and takes a deep breath. "I was born Rhys Marcus Lexington. I was adopted by blood and I have had several spells on me until recently. I am now Rhys Jamiel Lexington. I changed my middle name so that it is close to my old one. Until three days ago, I was Harry James Potter. What? I woke up on the floor.

When I got up, Prince was surprisingly okay with the turn of events and Nymphie was hugging Rhys. He looked at me and I could tell he wanted to see if I was alright with things. I stood and opened my arms and he ran into them and we embraced

"I don't care if your name is Aunt Jemima. I had that syrup before and it is to die for. Hey Jewel!" She popped in and nodded and popped away again. Okay I like her again.

"So, Pup, tell me the story." He looked around the table and told us it was part of the oath and we nodded. The story he told us! What?! I am going to kill someone! Dumbledore and his Twinkly Eyed Self was going to get the full Marauder treatment. Once I calmed down, I felt happy. My Pup has a girlfriend and she is cute!

"Padfoot, you cannot ever call me Harry. I am Rhys, a friend of Draco's. You can tell him that you are looking out for the child of one of your school friends. That is not a lie. Now finish eating, you have an interview with Luna's dad, and then he is leaving again and then I will beat you at mini golf and then we are having lunch at my manor." What did he just say to me?

"Look, Rhys or Fleece or whoever you are, there is no way you will beat me at any game. Bring it on!" He laughs and kisses the little blonde. He has a real girlfriend! Aww!

"You bring it on, Padfoot. Can you get me a pair of those sneakers? I want blue and white and Lu wants silver and white." Ha! I look at Sebastian smugly and he looks like he is ready to beg me. Yes!

"Black, I shall have to amend my earlier statement with regard to your chosen footwear. I would greatly appreciate it if you would procure a pair in green and black for myself, and pink and white for Nymphadora here." Big words, big words, he said please, good enough.

"No problem, Prince. Let us adjourn to the sitting room for my interview." There was a pop and my clothes were forcibly changed into fancy shmancy robes in black and silver with a little blue. I thanked Jewel. She promised to change me back when the interview was over.

Socks popped in with the Daily Prophet which had a headline "Harry Potter Speaks Out about the Dangers of Hogwarts Before Transferring to a New School." Wow. Dumbledore is going to get a shit storm of howlers.

The highlights of the article are that there was a troll, a possessed teacher, there is a ghost that does not teach, but puts everyone to sleep, there was a basilisk at the school that was 65 feet long, there were dementors, the school brooms break right from under a person, dragons, and a fake teacher polyjuiced as Dumbledore's friend.

In the article, Harry even mentions that he knew nothing about the wizarding world. He did not know about floos or portkeys or even how to count the money. He said he wished that there was a wizarding introduction class and a traditions class to explain things to the first years that were raised in the muggle world. The article ends wishing Harry well and saying that Hogwart's standards are dropping. Wow.

I almost feel sorry for Dumbledore. Almost. He is in for it now. This will light a fire under many people. If they want Harry back, which they won't get, they will have to fix the school. This was brilliant! My pup is so smart! I just have to get through this interview and then the fun will begin.


	6. Chapter 6

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **Rhys POV**

I watched with Sebastian and Nymphadora as Sirius struck poses for his photo shoot. He insisted even though Xeno had said that one photo was fine. Luna was taking the pictures and Jewel was changing the backgrounds and playing music for Sirius. She even made the wind blow through his hair. They were equally crazy.

"So, Mr. Lexington, what house do you think you will sort into this coming fall?" I smiled at Sebastian as he asked me to call him. "Sebastian, please call me Rhys or Lex like Drake does. I believe I will become a Raven. It will be easier for me to fit in with the knowledge I gained from our studying in the time chamber. What of you, sir?" He smiled. It was a predatory smile.

"I will of course procure my mastery by taking my exam again and I will release a couple of the potions that I have invented but did not dare to share under my old name. Dumbledore will beg me to come to Hogwarts. I will not take on the Head of Slytherin house. I will also change the location of the potions labs. It will be an adventure. I must thank you again for what you have done for me, Lex." I shrugged.

"You were as much a slave to that man as I was. Now he will search for Harry Potter and he will be under fire for having been the one to drive him away. Now, what is really bothering you, sir? You do not suffer small talk." He stared at me and then he asked for an oath from myself and Nymphadora. Sirius just nodded from across the room. Apparently they had discussed this.

Once we took our oaths, he explained how he had heard the beginning of a prophecy and told it to Voldemort and this caused the man to come after the Potters and their subsequent deaths. When he was finished his story, he had his head bowed. Nymphie had tears running down her face. I thought about what he said.

"Sir, is it customary to have a job interview in a private room at a pub that is actually near enough to Hogwarts that it should have been there? Why would there not have been privacy spells on the room in any event? Has Trelawny given any real prophecies since that one?" He shook his head.

I stood up and paced. "Can we think about this? Maybe the prophecy is not real. I was not born to them and I was not even related to the Dursleys. My adopted mother was herself adopted by the Evans family. Blood wards would not have worked anyway because they did not love me and it was not a home to me." Sebastian and Nymphadora seemed transfixed by my story.

"Maybe we can go and check the Hall of Prophecies for the orb. The Goblins would have told me if I was 'The Chosen One'. They said war is bad for business and they went crazy about something in my scar and then they went on a mission and destroyed things called horcruxes. I have a reliable source that says the next time he dies, he will stay dead." I watched him take a shuddering breath.

"I am not uncaring, sir. I would not allow my new friends and family to be in an unsafe world. No, I think Voldemort and Dumbledore will destroy themselves." When I finished talking, Sebastian got up and hugged me. This was new.

"Even if she was not your birth mother, she loved you and I vowed to protect you. I feel so much better now knowing that you are not captured or about to become a martyr as was Dumbledore's plan." He sat back down and drank his cranberry juice. Sirius was just talking to Xeno now.

It looked like they were wrapping it up. "I must say, this person you have become, that Dumbledore tried to stop you from becoming, is intelligent and is not at all that charging forward fool you used to be." And he is back.

I smiled anyway. "Thank you, sir. Now let's head on over to my manor. I left the group and we are playing mini golf. Come on, Sirius!"

We shook hands with Xeno. He threatened to feed me to a blubbering humdinger in small pieces if I hurt his little Moon Child. I agreed with him that I would deserve it and he clapped me on the back and said I was a good lad and left to write his story and go back to his expedition.

At the manor, Drake came up to me, walking confidently in his jeans and tee shirt. It said "Slytherins do it better" and there were snakes slithering on it. I smiled. "Nice shirt, Drake. Sirius tells me he knows you already. So let's play. Shall we have the girls against the guys?" He smiled and nodded.

I kissed Lu on the cheek and we all set out to tackle the course which had been magically altered so that some of the holes moved and the exhibits were charmed to talk back and to goad us. Sirius found this hilarious. He was a hit with the boys because he kept telling his Hogwarts stories.

Luna had corralled the girls and they were in short denim skirts and when they bent over to take their putts, we all forgot what we were doing. "I say, Lex, this game is pretty awesome. I love their little clothes. It is such a shame that they cannot dress like this at Hogwarts." I smiled at Draco.

"I know, right? I asked my elves to find out what a typical teenager wears in the summertime in America and they got us all these clothes. Who needs those long robes at the Manor? We should be having fun and this way we get used to wearing it for our Disney trip. We will be able to fit in."

I looked around and what I saw frustrated me."Sirius, stop using your wand to get it into the hole!" Theo and Neville collapsed into laughter and Drake looked like he was holding it in. Blaise just high fived me. Well, we are teenaged boys.

The girls won and we had a cookout for lunch with ribs, burgers, hot dogs and barbeque chicken. The purebloods were enthralled. "So, this food is great! Why can't we have this at Hogwarts?" This was from Hannah Abbott. I smiled at her and called Socks.

He popped in wearing black cargos and a tee shirt that said "Puff Puff Pass". I did not want to know. "Socks, can you talk to the Hogwarts elves about adding this type of food to their menus?" He stared at me, nodded and exhaled a large cloud of smoke. Alrighty.

"Socks, please note that while I asked you to study teenaged culture, I did not mean that you had to take part in everything. Please do not do drugs anymore. At least not while you are on duty." He nodded at me.

"Cool, Master Rhys. I will be doing what you asked. Do you and the lovely ladies need anything else? Bitsy better be about her business!" Bitsy popped in wearing clothes like the girls and they howled laughing at her little high heels.

"Socks needs to recognize that Bitsy can do her jobs well. Go eat something, Socks, you will feel better. Stop looking at me like that!" She smacked him and we all watched him duck and grab a plate and then disappear.

"Wow, Rhys, your elves are a hoot. Mine are all afraid of me and they never give me their opinions."

I turned to Neville. "Did you ever ask them for their input? They have been around for a long time, Nev. They know things and they know all of the family secrets." He nodded deep in thought and then he got an owl that made him get up and start having some type of fit.

"You help him!" I shook my head as Drake, Theo, Blaise and Sirius argued about who would stun Neville. Where were the Ravenclaws?

Socks popped back in. "They is being on the terrace outside the library. They are researching muggle technology, Master Rhys. They are also eating. I checked on them. I think Master Neville is dancing. Huh.

"Neville? Can you stop that gyrating for a moment? What is making you, um, dance?" He grinned and picked up Susan Bones and kissed her deeply on the mouth and let her go. She sank to the ground and her friend Hannah helped her up. She stared at Neville with a predatory gleam in her eye.

Neville nodded at her and she blushed. Wow. What has happened to Neville? He wrote a note and attached his wand and the owl left. Okay, he is just being crazy now. I tried to wait patiently. He finally turned to me.

"Rhys, Sirius, Lord Prince, might you all accompany me to the shopping district? It seems that I need a new wand as my father wanted his back!" Wow. We all race to him and hug him. This was excellent news.

"I am so happy for you, Neville, really. Well, sadly, this means we have to change clothes, but the girls can wear summer dresses and open robes. Alright, everyone, let's change and be ready in an hour. Thanks for lunch, Bitsy. Please take the leftover food to the local orphanage without being seen and do not forget the toys and clothes." She smiled and nodded.

"That was very charitable of you, Lex. I am proud of you for doing that." What is Former Snape's deal? Is he trying to parent me? I smiled and nodded at him. Maybe he just has a build-up of emotions that he has to get out. I was ready to like this new guy. He was kind of cool, and he balanced out Sirius who kept trying to start a prank war.

 **Fred POV**

"So, my uglier twin, what do we do now?" George sat in the orchard with me. I sighed.

"I have no idea, George. Poor Harry must think that we are as horrible as our family. I have been thinking, though. Maybe we should be Prewitts. We can go to the bank and try to take on the Prewitt name and maybe there is money there. I cannot believe Mum was stealing from Harrykins. Ron is a git and he does not deserve to be friends with Harry and did you notice the bushy haired bookworm was just as evil?" He threw an apple and a gnome caught it and ran away with it.

"I know, Fred. So it is settled. We will head to the bank. I am tired of being put down all of the time just because we are not just like Perfect Percy. Let's leave now." We stood and nodded and used the Knight Bus to get to the bank.

The first goblin we walked up to was gruff and he was named Bloodfang. "Honored goblin, we seek inheritance tests. We no longer wish to be related to our family." The goblin looked at George and me and smiled. It was a scary smile.

"Follow me, humans." Okay then. We nodded and followed him through a maze of torch lit hallways and we came to his office.

He gave us both a knife and said to make a cut on our palm and to place it onto the parchment. We followed the instructions and the results were shocking! We were the twin sons of Fabian Prewitt. He died and Molly took us to raise. Well, that helps things along.

We were given flushing potions so that we could take on our true looks which were more distinguished. Our hair was longer and a more reddish blonde. It must be from our mother who also died and was named Mary. We were given the keys to our vaults and our lordship rings.

We asked Bloodfang if we could get a letter to Harry Potter because we were not like the Weasleys. He said if we wrote to him, he would make sure it reached Mr. Potter, but that a reply would take time. We asked him to be our account manager and he grinned that scary grin again. After picking a flat with two bedrooms and that was in Hogsmeade to live in, we left for a shopping spree.

"Freddie, we have to write a letter to Molly or she will go to the auror's." I sighed. I hated that George was the smart and thoughtful twin.

"Fine, I will write her a letter. It can be her favorite kind. A howler." I was the mean and vindictive twin.

All this time we had money and she made us have hand me downs. It would not have been so bad if she treated us all the same, but no! She treated us differently and with a small amount of disdain that we were creative.

We wrote the note and sent a letter to the Daily Prophet stating that we took up the Prewitt Lordship. We mailed both and started our shopping spree.

George sighed again. What does the bleeding heart want now? I turned to him as I checked myself out in the mirror. "What is it, Georgie? Do you want a puppy or something?" He shoved me.

"Freddie, let's talk to Lee and Angelina and Alicia. They are our friends. We can invite them to come over. You know what we really need?" I shook my head no. "We need a house elf!" He was right again. We paid for our purchases and put them into our new trunks and headed off to Knockturn Alley. We needed new wands, too. If we are going to do it, we need to do it right. The summer was looking up.

 **Rhys POV**

We sent the Ravenclaws a note with another elf named Daisy and they agreed to go shopping with us. They acted like another species or something and this is the group I am going to take up with? I sighed. It was necessary. They needed to loosen up. I had Socks to bake them some special brownies for later.

As per the plan, Sirius and Sebastian were shopping together and we had broken up into groups. I was with Neville, Drake and Anthony. We looked rich and handsome and awesome.

We entered a pet shop because I felt like something was calling me and I followed the pull up to a covered cage. How very creepy. I read the plaque and it was a raven. How predictable. I had to give Hedwig to Hagrid. My note to him thanked him for taking care of her. He wrote back that she liked another owl and that maybe they would raise a clutch of eggs. I am not ready to be a grandpa yet.

Anyway, I took the bird out of its cage and it stared at me, and then the fucker bit my shoulder! I took out my onyx wand that had thestral hair and basilisk venom inside it ready to curse the bird and hit it with a mild cutting curse at the last moment. It touched its bleeding wing to the blood on my shoulder. Oh. Right, it will be my bonded familiar.

There was a glow and now the bird, who told me his name is Romeo is my familiar. He sat on my shoulder looking imposing and talking to me mentally about people. Drake got a baby panther that would not get too big and that could masquerade as a cat and Neville got a freaking koala cub. Anthony had another book. It was on familiars. He was hopeless. We made him get a pet and he got an owl that seemed to like to read, too. Whatever.

After frustrating Mr. Vito until he wanted to curse him, Neville got a custom wand that had wood from a whomping willow and a feather from a storm phoenix inside. There was ivy wrapped around it and Neville made the whole shop fill with flowers and vines before he vanished them.

Neville had a new swagger and I liked it. He just got a new holster and walked out with a new laid back confidence. Drake and Anthony just smiled. I think they liked the new Neville Longbottom, too.

Neville said that after tonight he was going home for a day or two to be with his parents and to see what the deal was with them. I said that they were welcomed at my manor and he hugged me. We sent our pets back to the manor with Bitsy because she said Socks was baking.

We avoided the reporters crowded around Sirius, Nymphie and Sebastian and went to the jewelry store. We all got titanium and gold bracelets as a symbol of our new friendship and then we found the rest of our group and went to a movie in the muggle world. It was an animated one, but it was still cool. The purebloods were extremely fascinated and asked to come again. I just smiled. I never felt like this being with Ron and Hermione. Like Luna said, it was great having friends.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **Molly POV**

This was turning out to be a bad summer and it was just beginning. First, they lost Harry Potter, and then that letter from Gringott's stating that her vault was being emptied because of stolen funds. How dare those beasts! We needed that money. Surely I should not be made to suffer in squalor forever! Arthur just did not earn enough money and he liked perks like when I bought the Quidditch World Cup tickets.

Well, I can get the money back once we find out where Harry Potter is. None of us remember where he loves and we need him! He has to marry my Ginny. I told her that this year she should make him see that she is more than just Ron's little sister. I was going to buy her a whole new wardrobe, but that might just be impossible now. Just then a letter arrived. Who the hell sent me a fucking howler?!

It opened and I recognized the voices of the twins.

"Hello, Molly. We know you are not our mother and we have taken up our rightful inheritance. Never again will we darken your doorstep you self-righteous loudmouthed harpy! You never made us feel loved and you did not support us. Now we do not need you, so this is goodbye. Your life just got easier. You can go back to focusing on Ginny and Ron like always. Just go on pretending we are not there. She probably did not even notice, Fred. You are right, Georgie. Anyway, Molly Weasley, have a great life; I know we will!"

The letter ripped itself into small pieces.

Who told them about being Prewitts? Now that they have claimed their inheritances, I cannot touch that money. I was waiting until they were of age! "Mum!" Dammit, that is another thing. That fool boy was so happy to have a Firebolt, he jumped off a hill and fell right to the ground. My poor Ronnie had to regrow his bones last night. What will Arthur think about this? He was the one that convinced me to take in the twins in the first place. Besides the money, I feel like good riddance. They were always trouble makers.

I get up to fix Ronnie a tray. He is a growing boy after all and I need him to still be friends with Harry Potter. I do not believe the Prophet that he will not attend Hogwarts. They must be lying. Hogwarts is the best school around; everyone knows this. "Mum!" I am coming you ungrateful lout! I take a deep breath and smile a pleasant smile. The boy is part of the plan, Molly. You cannot kill him. One of these days, though, I might just transfigure him into a gnome and toss him about the yard. It worked when he was younger. I wonder if that is why he is not so bright? Oh well. No use worrying about it now.

 **Sirius POV**

"Hestia, you look lovely this morning. Have you ever been to an amusement park?" She smiled at me and looked even more beautiful in her tee shirt and shorts. They sure showed a lot of leg.

"No, Sirius, but I am up for the challenge. I like your jeans and your tee shirt is funny." It said "Get ur freak on" Rhys howled laughing and said he would explain why it was funny later. We were having breakfast and waiting for the rest of the kids to show up. They had gone home to check in with their parents and I said we could all meet up after breakfast at Black Manor.

Down the other end of the table, Sebastian was wearing black jeans and a tee shirt that said "My chick's bad". Whatever. I don't even think he knows what it means. He just likes it because it is green and it matches his sneakers. I do like his haircut. It looks like a movie star's hair. It is not better than mine, of course, but it comes in a close third.

Rhys was going to have to tell me how he got blue highlights that do not look ridiculous. He was chatting with Draco and he had that little girl on his lap. I returned my attention to Hestia. She was talking about how shy her niece was. Well, she wouldn't be after today.

Just then an owl arrived with a letter for Rhys. Socks popped in and checked it, and then he allowed him to read it. Rhys got up and left the room. What was the deal? I excused myself and followed him. I found him behind silencing wards shaking his head back and forth. I approached him.

"Hey, Rhys. What is wrong?" He turned to me and smiled. He waved the letter at me.

"Padfoot, it is Fred and George. They are Prewitts and they had tampering done to them, too. They moved out and they have a house in Hogsmeade. They wrote that they were not involved with the stealing from my vaults and that they were shocked about Hermione, but that she was a little too into Dumbledore and books. They want me to know that I can trust them. I think I need to run over there right quick to talk to them I cannot say what I need to say in a letter." I hugged him. I can be serious sometimes. All the time! Stop it, Sirius.

"Yes, Rhys. Go ahead. We still have time before the portkey, at least two hours. I will explain it to the other kids. Be back soon and call Socks if you have any problems." He hugged me again and took the floo and left.

I returned to the dining room to find it full of people. "Cousin Sirius, where is Rhys? Is he okay?" I smiled at Draco. He was a nice kid sometimes. "He is fine, Draco. He just got a note from some other friends. He will be back before our portkey. Now, have you studied the pamphlets about this amusement park?" He smiled and leaned back in his seat. He was giving the littlest Greengrass girl the eye and she was giving it right back. How cute.

"Yes, I am looking forward to it. Rhys said that some of the rides were like flying. I cannot wait and he said the food was different, too." He had stopped gelling his hair and it looked nice all loose and feathery. What was with my hair obsession lately? Who knows. The owls flew in with the Quibbler and there I was on the front page looking like a model with my handsome self. Go me! The headline jumped off the page.

LORD BLACK SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HIS FALSE IMPRISONMENT AND HIS GODSON, HARRY POTTER

Wow, people would be talking about this issue for a while. I told them everything about Barty Crouch, Millicent Bagnold and Dumbledore sentencing me to hell on earth for twelve years and the fact that Dumbledore was the one who did the Fidelius Charm. He is going to get so much flak. Good. I also go on record as supporting Harry's decision not to return to Hogwarts citing the fact that he almost died four years in a row and no one protected him.

I said it just seemed to make sense. Why stay where you are not wanted? Most of the students last year hated him anyway. I refused to say where he was, but I stressed that he had contacted me and that he was safe. I mentioned that the standards at Hogwarts seemed to have declined from when I attended and that I hoped the Board of Governors made some changes there. I alluded to the fact that I held a seat on the Board and that I would attend the next meeting. I stopped reading and turned to Sebastian.

"Hey Prince, when are you taking your exam?" He drank his coffee calmly.

"I will do it tomorrow at the ICW headquarters, Black. I wanted to spend this day having fun with Nypmadora and being a chaperone for you and the children." I was nodding along. What? I do not need a chaperone! There was a pop and Socks was standing there with a note. I took it. Oh, Pup was inviting Fred and George and he told them I am a Marauder. Cool. I wrote a reply and said they could come with him and gave it to Socks who was tapping his foot impatiently. What was his deal?

"What is wrong, Socks?" He sighed.

"Master Rhys and Master Sirius is interrupting me from other work. Have fun today! I know I will. That room needs so much cleaning!" He popped away. Ten minutes later, Rhys came back with the twins and they had on jeans and tee shirts that said "I am the Cute Twin" and "I am the Smart Twin". I just laughed and endured their praise as they got on their knees in front of me.

"We are not worthy!"

"Worthy we are not!"

"Tread upon us and show us your knowledge, Great Master of Pranks!"

"Yes, tread on us!" They were hilarious and the kids laughed at them.

"Oh, Merlin help me. Black, you will keep them under control or else." I nodded at Sebastian.

"Get up, boys. Did you eat yet?" They got up and sat on both sides of me and ate pancakes.

"Fred, we are eating pancakes with Padfoot!" They leaned across me.

"I know, Georgie! What a wonderful day it is already! That Rhys chap is awesome to invite us along on this muggle trip. I say, is that Draco Malfoy over there?" Draco got up and walked over to us.

"Hello, Fred and George. I am now Draco Black. Lex tells me that you are Prewitts now. Welcome to the group. Yesterday, Sirius was telling us about all of the pranks he did at school. Maybe you can help us to do some of them on your former younger brother. He rubs me the wrong way." They got up and patted him on the head, and then they messed with his shirt and spun him around.

"Yes, we like you, Drakey. So tell us, who is your friend over there with the girls surrounding him?" We followed their line of sight and saw Neville getting his mack on with the Hufflepuffs.

"That is Neville Longbottom. You will have seen the article today in the Prophet about his parents getting cured. It has done wonders for his confidence." Fred and George kept messing with Draco's hair until Theodore came over and hexed them both with green hair.

"Yes! A prank war!" They took off running and chasing each other. I love these kids.

There was a pop and it was Jewel with another note. It was from Cissy. I read it and laughed. Apparently, Lucius went to Gringott's and Bloodfang made him go to the healers. He is better and he no longer has the dark mark. He wants her back and he is willing to court her. He even told her about his secret vaults and that he is staying in his manor in France to be near her. She wants my opinion. I write her that she should let the ponce take her on dates if she wants and that she should enjoy herself. Jewel took the note away.

That was nice. Maybe little Draco's parents would get back together. I told Rhys the deal and he was relieved. He said that anyone with the dark mark would die with Voldemort. Wow. My watch beeped.

"Okay kids! It is ten minutes to the portkey. Use the bathroom and grab your bags. Fred, fix Draco's hair back and take that dress of Blaise! Behave around the muggles. We leave in ten minutes. If you are left behind, the elves will torture you. Where are those bookworms? Come on! You will turn pale if you don't get outside and have some fun, Anthony. You can do an essay on the trip later. Yes, you too Lisa and Morag." These kids were so silly. What was that music? I turned to see Socks and Jewel dancing.

"Ahem." They looked up at me.

"Oh, well, Master Sirius, we is learning the dances like the teenagers do, sir." That looked like fun, but I don't have time now.

"Come along, kids. Everyone grab the rope!" We swirled away in a flash of colors.

 **Dumbledore POV**

I should have stayed in bed today. Once I finally got back to the castle yesterday, Hagrid informed me that the goblins had come for the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets! He said they had a note from Harry Potter with permission and everything.

Hagrid was all in a tizzy. He said that he got to talking with them and they said they could file a report to the ministry and get his name cleared so he could carry a wand and that he just needed to come in today to handle the paperwork. Isn't that just precious? I could care less if that oaf had a wand. I just wanted his loyalty and he was not looking at me the same. It took forever to get all of that tar off, too!

Why couldn't I get into Potter Manor? Wait, the goblins had a note from Harry Potter? Dammit! That meant they told him about his inheritances. It made sense now why they had moved his money to the dwarves. They took the basilisk! Did they know how valuable it was? I was going to guilt Harry into showing me the Chamber and then I was going to steal it. He did not need it anyway. His destiny was to die fighting Voldemort anyway.

Now I was reading headlines that I wish I wasn't. The Longbottoms are cured and they are praising the goblins and are encouraging everyone to let the goblin healers give them a checkup and that they should get inheritance testing done. Frank and Alice were not helping matters. Why did they hate me? They always were trouble makers. Now Augusta would be incorrigible. She has her most fervent wish granted. Sirius did an interview laying all the blame of Harry disappearing onto my shoulders. That brat!

When I see Sirius again I will turn him into a dog permanently! I asked the elves to redirect the howlers that came for me and they refused. They said it was a crime to tamper with mail, so I had to listen to people yelling at me all morning. What were they working on anyway? They were all dressed in strange clothes and they had little packs on their backs with hoses coming out of them.

I tried asking Pappy, the head elf and he said they were doing Summer Cleaning since they could not do Spring cleaning. I will admit that the castle seems less dreary, but the elves knew that they were here to serve. How dare they refuse an order? Just then, the floo flared and Cornelius was there begging to come through. I nodded and he came into my office with his ridiculous bowler hat in his hands. Why did he pick green? Maybe a nice orange would look better on him?

"Albus! What am I going to do? Lucius told me that he will no longer support my administration if I was going to be against Harry Potter. He said I should make some changes and that he would be bringing up more ideas at the Board of Governor's meeting. He said his son went to school here and he is shocked that more people have not pulled their kids out. I cannot have the citizens sending their kids to other schools, Albus. You will have to get a new history teacher." I bet I could turn him into a slug and no one would miss him. He just keeps whining.

"Since Snape passed on, you will need a new head of Slytherin house and a new potions master. I also want a Wizarding Cultures class and I have heard that your muggle studies class is horrible. Fix it, Albus. If you make these changes before the meeting, they might not sack you. As it is, I do not think you will be able to hold on to the Chief Wizard title, what with you not making sure that Black had a trial and all." He sat back and caught his breath.

The little creep! He is the one that made the Kiss on Sight order! He makes me sick. Fine, maybe I will make these staffing changes. I will have to find another potions master and I know Horace will only come here if I can get Harry Potter. Where is that blasted boy! I nod and smile at Cornelius and shoo him away with some platitudes and a few pieces of candy. He was surprisingly still like he was when he attended Hogwarts. Merlin help us all.

 **Rhys POV**

Who knew that water ride with the logs would be the favorite among the guys? I should have guessed, I mean the girls shrieked and got splashed with water and clung to us. Of course we wanted to ride it a fourth time.

Sebastian said that maybe we could use a food break and everyone agreed. I had seen him eyeing the funnel cake. It smelled delicious. Luna was eating a waffle ice cream sandwich and everything else disappeared as I watched her lick that thing over and over. Wow. I got nudged on the shoulder and turned to see Neville.

"Hey, Nev." He handed me a large turkey leg and I took a big bite. This was so good!

"Thanks!" He smiled.

"You seemed like you were going to melt into a puddle there. Take this lemonade. Luna is teasing you, man." I took the lemonade and thought to myself that she could tease me whenever she wanted. She just smiled at me. She was so pretty.

Draco sat on the bench next to me looking smug. "What?" He grinned and ate his own turkey leg.

"Sirius told me about my dad and Astoria agreed to go out with me. I know she is a year younger, but so is Luna and you two get along great. This place is so much fun! Can we do those bumping cargo thingies next?" My poor little pureblood friend.

"Sure, Drake, but they are called bumper cars and I am glad to hear about your parents." He gave me a one armed hug. Sebastian and Nymphie came up to us and she was carrying a large stuffed bear.

"Look at what my Sweetie won for me!" I suspect wand use but I do not say anything.

"Thanks, Sebastian. Now all of the girls will want one." He just smirks at me. He is still Snape deep down. She pulls him away and I resign myself to my fate.

"Come on. Lu. After we ride our ride, I will win you an animal, too." She squeals and jumps up and down. I see Drake having the same conversation. At least I am not alone in my plight. Sirius comes up to me.

"Say there, Rhys. We have to find stuffed bears. What kind of ruthless muggle games will I have to play for that type of prize?" He is so funny. I pat his arm.

"Sirius, you may have to pop some balloons or something. It is all too shocking. Come along, my pureblood uncle. Let's go driving. You can crash into Lord Prince and everything!" He cheers up and follows me. I know I am a pureblood, too, but still. I was muggle raised. This was turning into a great day!


	8. Chapter 8

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **Dumbledore POV**

"I call this meeting of the Order to order!" I send off a concussive hex with my wand and the group gathered at the Burrow quiets down. It is a tight fit with all of us here, but I hesitate to apply any expansion charms to this home. It may fall down on top of us. I smile my trademark smile at the group. They all give me their attention. I clear my throat.

"I know that most of you have seen the articles in the Quibbler and the Daily Prophet about Harry Potter. I wanted to take this time to find out whether any of you have been in contact with him?" They all blink at me. I turn to Miss Granger.

"Miss Granger, did you write to Harry as I suggested?" She nods at me but frowns.

"I wrote to him, but the letter returned to me unopened, Headmaster. I don't understand. Usually, Harry is desperate for something to distract him from how boring his life with his relatives is. I had to rent an owl to send the letter, too." I just nod at her.

"Yes, Hagrid tells me that Harry asked him to care for Hedwig. I hope we can locate the young man before September. Now, Molly informed me that Fred and George have taken up the Prewitt Lordship. They may be able to help the Order soon. Have you heard from them, Arthur?"

He just shakes his head while Molly huffs. Well these people were useless. Kingsley speaks up from the back of the room. "Professor, have you heard of Sebastian Prince? He got the highest score for a potions mastery on record at the ICW. If you contact him, you may be able to get him to work at Hogwarts." That does seem interesting, but?

"Kingsley, is he related to Severus?" He nods.

"Yes, the word around the ministry is that he is his distant cousin and that he is younger than Snape was. The Research Department wants to hire him. That is how I heard about him, sir." That will never do! I must have the best working for me. I have already promoted Aurora Sinestra to Head of Slytherin House. I smile my benevolent smile at Kingsley.

"I will contact this Mr. Prince at once." Kingsley clears his throat. I look at him again. "Yes, Kingsley?"

"He is Lord Prince, sir." Damnation! That meant I could not pursue my gambit to claim that vault. Of course I was planning to do it via owl post, but still. I nod again and face the youngest Weasley male.

"Ronald, last year you were not a very good friend to young Harry. He will need your support this year. No more of this jealousy and anger towards the lad. He is the Chosen One and we need him on our side." He sulks at me and mumbles about money. We are all poorer right now little wizard.

"The reason we are not meeting at Headquarters is that Sirius has enacted the Black Family wards and any who wish harm to his family or to his godson cannot enter and are in fact forcibly removed. I experienced it and it is not pleasant. He has taken up the mantle of Lord Black and I know you have read his interview. He will not disclose Harry's location, either, I am afraid." They all look sadly at me and none of them caught my slip up. I have to lay off those invigorating potions. Moving on.

"I have asked the Minister for permission to hire an auror to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, but I have not received an answer yet. I have hired a new History of Magic Teacher, Professor Ana Chambers. She is from America and she attended the Salem Institute. Does anyone have anything to add?"

Emmaline Vance steps forward. "Sir, the vault key you gave me does not belong to an active vault. I was banned from the bank for thirty days!" This opens the door for all of them to complain. I hold out my hands.

"The keys I had given you belonged to the Potter Vaults and it is my supposition that Harry Potter has closed the vaults as he did not know about the extra keys." She gasps.

"You mean you made us thieves!" She takes off her Order Medallion and throws it at me. I get another one from Aberforth, who sneers at me, and one from Minerva. I stare at her pinched expression and say nothing as she leaves.

I am left with Mundungus Fletcher, Kingsley, the Weasley family and Remus Lupin. He will be forever loyal. I am just glad that Hagrid could not come to this meeting. He would be telling all and sundry our business. He cannot keep a secret.

"Pardon, but what are you doing about Voldemort, Professor?" I look at the young French champion and smile. "Miss Delacour, we are trying to find Harry Potter. He is our best chance to defeat Voldemort." She does not return the smile.

"Do you have a new spy since Professor Snape died?" Why must she bring up such good points while I have no answers?

"Not at this time, Miss Delacour." She sniffs and stands. She takes off her medallion as well.

"Vous are not doing anything and I do not wish to be associated with kidnapping thieves. Good evening everyone." She walked out the door, not even giving young William a backwards glance. Wow. That had to hurt.

Oh well. I will just have to induct Miss Granger. She is so unfailingly loyal to me. I wish I knew why. Maybe she thinks I will give her some more books. The poor misguided little bucktoothed bookworm. You would think that she would read about some beauty charms. She has been in our world for four years now.

"If there is nothing else, I will call this meeting to a close. I will owl you all or contact you with your medallions. Goodnight." The rest of them leave and I do as well.

Once I am back in my office, I receive an owl. Oh, what is this? Transcripts for enrollment and test scores from the ICW? Hmmm. Lexington is an old Pureblood line. He will probably be another one for Slytherin. I put the papers into my pocket and start to plan a way to obtain my new potions master. How can I lure him here? Who knows? If that damned boy had not taken the basilisk, I could offer that to him. I sigh. Being me is hard work. I look around my office. There are fewer things here. I call Pappy and he pops in wearing a strange outfit. What are those shoes?

"You called for Pappy, Headmaster Whiskers?" Their little names for me are cute.

"Pappy, why are there fewer items in my office? I see tapestries and artifacts are missing. He nods along with me.

"Headmaster Whiskers, the elves are doing Summer Cleaning and we are putting things where they belong so we can be organized. Many of the things in this office did not belong here, so we put them in the correct places." That sounds good, but I loved all of my purloined items.

"I want them to be returned, Pappy." He shook his head at me. What was this? Can they say no?

"Headmaster Whiskers, we found out the true owners of the items and we gave them to the goblins at Gringott's. They was very happy to receive the property." What the hell?

"Pappy, those things were gifted to me." He just nods at me.

"Can you give us pensieve proof of the times they were gifted to you? We Is needing proof for the goblins. They have many rules, Headmaster Whiskers. They hate thieves." I sat there fuming. Who gave them this idea anyway?

"Sir, will you be signing the forms for us to use the land to grow vegetables and to enlarge the chicken coops? We have made changes to the menus and we can be saving money according to the goblins. Maybe you want me to ask Headmistress Kitty?"

I snarl at him and sign all of the forms and wave him away. I don't give a flying snitch about the costs of food. I hate being told no about something. I decide to call it a day before anything else happens, but I am too late as I receive a floo call from Sirius Black.

"Hey there, Albus!" What could he want?

"Can I come through?" Hell no. On second thought, maybe I can get him to tell me about Harry.

"Come on in, Sirius." He steps through the floo and he is dressed like the house elves. What are those shoes. He bounces over and an elf pops in and hands him a frosty beverage and a potion. He takes the potion and drinks the beverage while I stare at him.

"Listen, Albus. I meant to tell you that I met Lord Prince. He is a little stuck up, but he is not like Snape. If you play your cards right, I will help you to convince him to come and work here, but he is a perfectionist. His potions actually taste good, if you can imagine. He is really good at mini golf, too."

He was acting like he was on a beach somewhere. He stops and talks on a little device and sighs and puts it away.

"Sorry, Albus. Prince says that he wants a large classroom on the seventh floor and he would prefer skylights. He wants to use the book he wrote on potions safety. He wants to use his own book on potions and he wants protective gear for the kids and he wants to be able to use his own house elves. He wants a private suite and he agrees to have office hours, but he does not want to chaperone Hogsmeade visits." That does not sound so bad. He is not done.

"He wants Slytherin/Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff/Gryffindor for all grades. He wants to leave at night because he has a lady that he is courting. I think that is all of them. Oh, he wants Minerva as his superior. He has read about you in the papers, Albus and he is not your biggest fan, plus he did not like how you treated his cousin." He stopped talking and called his elf. She showed up wearing a little outfit that was cute. She gave him a plate of cookies and pet his head and left. He did offer me some cookies. They were divine.

I take a deep breath. "Sirius, I will have some maneuvering to do to accommodate the schedule of Lord Prince, but I am willing to concede to his specifications. What about his NEWT requirement?" He takes out his little device again and talks to it, and then he puts it away again.

"He says to tell you that he will accept an EE or better, but that he will be giving all of the students a pretest dealie anyhow. He will teach them the proper methods to make his good tasting potions. He already negotiated with Poppy to stock the infirmary. She loves him." Well, that is a fortuitous event.

"What about fees, Sirius?" He leans back in his chair and crosses his legs. I eat another cookie. They are so good!

"He said he is willing to take this amount and he is paying for all potions texts for the first through fourth years." He slides a piece of parchment to me and I read it. The amount is at the middle of what I consider to be the high range, but if he is buying all of the texts for more than half of his students, we could swing it and it would make good press. I smile at Sirius who is talking on the little device again. How did he get that to work here?

"Albus, he said he can send a press release to the Quibbler stating that he will work here and that he will come here two weeks before classes to inspect his rooms and classrooms. He said that since he is still on holiday, he will have to meet you then. I am to take the contract with me and he promises that your infirmary will be stocked on time." Why is he being this guy's servant?

"I am not his servant, Albus. Stop talking to yourself. He is doing me a favor, too. He is looking out for poor little Rhys. He is an orphan and the son of one of my school friends. He sent in his transcript to transfer here. Did you get it?" Well now, this is interesting.

"You know the young man?" He smiles and shows me a picture.

It shows a young man and Draco Malfoy making faces at each other and both were holding a broom. I look up. "This is young Draco Malfoy with Mr. Lexington, Sirius?" Sirius smiled and took the photo.

"Nope. I annulled the marriage so he is Draco Black now. He got the stick out of his arse and the kid is okay without Lucy around to corrupt him. He has a fine head for pranks, he does." I look at the cookies and wonder whether they have a potion in them.

"Sirius, are you saying that you have spent time with Draco Black?" He nods and eats a cookie. I pull the plate away from him just in case.

"So, you did not find him pompous or mean spirited?" He shakes his head.

"Nope, he is a good kid. Lucy was trying to brainwash him, you know? Now he has me as a role model! He is very tight with Rhys, too. Those two on brooms are amazing to watch, Albus. So can Rhys go here or what? He wants to go to some school in Japan, but I already told him all about Hogwarts." He looks at me like a puppy.

I make a show of taking out the forms and reading them through. Sirius gets another visit from his house elf and she is tapping her foot and looking at a tempus spell. Sirius points at me and shrugs. She stomps her foot harder and hands him a note. He smells it and writes back. He conjures a rose and gives it to the elf and she just shakes her head at him and disappears. He clears his throat.

"Say, Albus. Maybe you could just give me the contracts and send me an owl for Rhys. I have a date that I am now late for." I want to growl. It must be nice. The person I want to date is in Nurmengard. Just for that I eat another cookie. What is in these?

"Sirius, I will allow the young man entry. If his parents attended Hogwarts, then he should as well. Here are the acceptance papers and he needs to deal with the tuition through Axegrinder, the goblin in charge of Hogwarts' accounts. He will receive a letter next month with the rest of the students. Now tell me, have you heard from Harry?" He takes the papers and adds it to the contract and shrinks the files and tucks them away.

"Yup. He is having a good summer and he is making new friends. He is fine. He told me that he is going to a new school. He is perfectly safe, Albus." That was not any new information. I try to press harder.

"Sirius, Harry is the Chosen One from the prophecy. We need him to defeat Voldemort." Sirius laughs.

"Albus, how can a kid that only went to school for four years defeat a dark lord that is about 70 years old? You must be going senile or something. Whatever potions you are taking, you should leave them alone." He giggles.

"I am being serious!" He howls laughing and falls out of the chair. His elf pops in and hands him a potion and he drinks it and calms down. She points to her tempus spell again and pops out. Sirius sits down again still giggling.

"Look, Albus, if you want Voldemort killed, get some aurors and your Order and go have a showdown. I am sure you know some powerful spells. Just imagine the headlines. You will have defeated two dark lords. You will be famous. They will give you another chocolate frog card, Albus! Harry is way too young for that type of notoriety. It's better that we let the grown-ups handle it."

He does make some valid points. Maybe I should rethink the prophecy. It could apply to Neville Longbottom. What am I saying? I have to stop believing my own hype. The prophecy is fabricated, but Voldemort believes it. Maybe I can put a few charms on Sirius and they can lead me to Harry. Yes! A good plan. I knock over the cookie plate and when Sirius tries to save the plate; I send a barrage of spells at him. Yes, I should be able to eavesdrop on him now.

"Well, do not let me keep you, Sirius. Thank you for stopping by. I look forward to meeting up with Lord Prince and seeing this so called changed Draco Black and my new student. Have a good night." He nods and leaves through the floo. That was easy. Now I can go to bed. This has been a long day.

 **Sirius POV**

I stepped through the floo and Jewel stopped me. She removed all of the spells that Albus sent at me and as agreed, she would place them at the Goyle residence. Heh heh. I raced to the patio to see a slightly irked Hestia waiting for me.

"Hestia, darling, please do not be upset with me! I had to help Rhys and Prince. If either of them went to see Dumbledore, it would have been a disaster! Rhys wants to prank him, and Prince wants to chop him up for potions ingredients for how he treated Snape. I am sorry that I am late. Now, let's have that evening drive. I have a new Porsche!" She shakes her head and allows me to pull her through the house.

"Ahem." I turn to see Rhys and Draco standing there. Prince is missing. He must be on a date.

"Yes, boys?" They bounce a little in anticipation.

"Did you do it, Padfoot?" I smile at my new and improved godson and smirk.

"Now what's my name?" He and Draco bow to me, just like I deserve.

"You got his lemon drops?" Yup. The cookies were a distraction. He will have gas, turn blue, have diarrhea, and itch at different times depending on the drops he eats.

"Yes, mini Lucy." He growls and whines.

"Stop calling me that, Cousin Sirius." Fine, some people are so touchy.

I wave them off and they take off to find their little blonde girlfriends. Those two are so alike. I heard that Longbottom has two girls fighting over him. Who gave him pimp juice? I hope that Frank and Alice will not flip out because this happened on my watch. If they do, I am throwing Prince at them. He will give them some long assed speech that will confuse them and they won't hex me. Now that I have a plan, I can enjoy my night with my lady.

Just then the phone rang again. "What, Prince? You call me more than Hestia does." He chuckles.

"I wanted to inform you that there will be the Tonks parents coming to breakfast tomorrow and I think that they are bringing Lady Black with them. I am told from Andromeda that Lucius will follow along like a lovesick kelpie." What? That's nice.

"So, why are you telling me? They are your lady's parents, Prince." He sighs.

"Black, I am loathe to admit this, but you are my friend and you are the Lord Black. If they are not receptive to our relationship, I am counting on you to use your position in the family to sway their opinions of me."

So he is nervous. Aww. Poor Snivellous. I will never forgive him for changing his blasted name. Now what will I call him? And his hair is so freaking awesome. I know if old Lockhart had all of his marbles, he would beg for his shampoo.

"Maybe, Prince. Stop worrying. Andy and Ted are pretty easy going. I mean it's not like you are a death eater or something. Listen, would you give me some of your shampoo?" He huffs at me and I can tell he wants to come and hit me.

"Black, are you able to focus and take this seriously?" I snort at him.

"Fine, you big baby. I will make sure that they like you. Now leave me alone so I can go on my date." He sighs again.

"Thank you and I will give the shampoo to Jewel. If you double cross me, I will have it replaced with a formula that will make you wish you were bald." He is so mean.

"Yes, yes. Thank you. Buh bye." I pull Hestia out of the house and up to my shiny black automobile. This was going to be fun.

 **Rhys POV**

"So, how are you holding up, Drake?" He was lying on the chaise lounge in my room tossing a ball of yarn for his cat to chase. My bird was talking to me mentally and making fun of the other animals. He is such a snob.

"My parents will be here tomorrow, Lex. I am fine with seeing mother of course, but you will have to help me prank Father if he puts one toe out of line." I smile at him.

"Yes, of course. I agreed to come over for breakfast and I will bring Lu. It will be fun. The rest of the crew are playing paintball. We will miss it. Now, I am officially enrolled in Hogwarts and we will have most of our classes together. Did you pass the word for everyone to answer questions before the bookworm?" He grins at me.

"Yes, I have sent letters to those who do not have mobiles. I love these, Lex! I can talk to someone without going to the floo! It is amazing. I am so glad I let you talk me into shopping in that muggleborn's shop." I sigh at him.

"Drake, stop calling people muggleborns. You have to act like you don't care about their blood status. Besides, most of them are from squibs anyway." He sighs.

"Fine, I am sorry. I think that I have come a long way, Lex and I do not really care. The reason I cannot stand Granger is that she is a bossy know it all that acts like because she memorized a book, then she is better than those of us that grew up knowing about magic. There is so much that is not in the Hogwart's library, Lex." I nod and agree with him.

"I know, Drake, you told me and everyone else told me. Neville will not stop once he starts talking about her. She sounds horrible. Now if everyone stops holding back and does their classwork, it will drive her crazy. The other kid, it seems like you need to let him hang himself. Let him get into trouble and do not even speak to him. The best prank on him is to do nothing. He will be worried and he will become paranoid. It will be funny to watch." He gets up and hugs me.

"You are the best friend ever, Lex!" I endure his hug and then I push him away.

"Now, now. I have a girlfriend." She comes into the room.

"Get off of my man, Draconis before I turn your hair purple, or maybe a nice Gryffindor red would look good." He jumps up and grabs his cat and leaves. He is hilarious.

"Lu, don't be mean to the poor guy. He has his parents coming in the morning." She dances over and twirls around in her little silver dress.

"Whatever, Rhys. Let's watch the television some more. I loved that shop you took us to. I really like the music channels. Watch me dance!" She does some complicated moves and then she shakes her behind. Wow. I don't know if I should laugh or if I should stop her before I embarrass myself. I am only a boy.

Socks pops into the room and dances with her and Jewel pops in as well. I shake my head at them and take my pajamas with me into the bathroom. I live with crazy people.


	9. Chapter 9

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **It is time to see what is going on at the Ministry!**

 **Corvus Harris POV**

I was just settling into my work station in the secretarial pool at the Ministry when I got an owl from Bloodfang. He was my goblin on the down low. My family is from an old pureblood like, but I am a halfblood. Anyhow, I opened the letter after setting up a silencing ward. Bloodfang did not play.

What? Oh my Beyoncé! I was moving on up to be the private secretary to the new Minister for Magic! The position had to be vetted through the goblins to avoid theft and HR had approved me. Oh and he sent me two potions to give her ASAP. That is no problem.

I used my wand to pack and I waved to Penelope Clearwater. I always feel badly for her because she used to date that red headed blowhard, Percival, but she got her own letter. We exchanged letters after an oath and jumped up and down like we won something.

Miss Thing quit with the quickness. I would too if I got a notice of that much gold going into my vault at once. Somebody likes Miss Clearwater and his name is Little Harry Potter. Well, good for him. I would love to give him a makeover. I told her to work it and I left in search of my new desk only to find Percival in my spot.

Oh hell no! I snapped my fingers and Nelly, my elf popped in looking fabulous. I had a long talk with her about "clothes" and said that unless she wanted me running around in just my drawers, we had to come to an agreement. She made me do an oath never to fire her and then she looked at some of my magazines. Now we are both looking awesome all the time.

"You called me, Master Corey?" I nodded.

"Nelly dearest, please pack up only the items that belong to this Weasley and escort him from my workstation. I am going to need it taken apart and redone anyhow. I cannot work with all of this red and gold."

She smiled and packed up a box for Percival and he was sputtering the whole time. I tuned him out like always. We were prefects together, but I was in Ravenclaw. I had better grades than him, too and I should have been Head Boy, but his whole family brown noses the headmaster, so I knew he would get it. Whatever.

Once I showed Penny the truth about him, she dropped his stuck up arse. I told her she could do better than to end up as another Mrs. Weasley. He did not approve of her working almost the same job as his. Well it is time for him to get out.

"What are you doing, Harris? This is my desk! I am the personal assistant to the minister!" I flashed him my key and he fumbled looking for his. Poor Percival. Those jumpers do not do him justice and it is the summertime!

"Look, Percival, I am now the new assistant to the Minister, so you can just fade away to your next assignment. Be gone now."

He turned red and it clashed horribly with his hair. He never took my fashion advice. At least Penny had let me take her under my wing after she was petrified. She looks fierce now. Percival stormed off and I noticed that the Minister's office was occupied, but not by the Minister. Well, this will never do. I took out my mobile and called Madame Bones.

 **Amelia Bones POV**

"So, if you swear this oath first, Rufus, I will witness it and you can have all of the aurors do the same thing." He smiled at his promotion and took the oath which guaranteed his loyalty to the Ministry and not an outside vigilante group, and that he promised to uphold the laws.

I was having the whole Ministry do them, but I needed the aurors to take them first. The Department of Ministries had worked out the oaths so that no one would die; they would just lose their jobs. Rufus was telling me of his hopes to change the uniforms when my new mobile rang. I answered it to find my new assistant was upset with me.

"Hello?" He sighed in frustration.

"You did not even put up a silencing ward before you answered did you?" Well, no I didn't. I took care of that immediately. Moody would smack me.

"Listen, Miss Ammy dear, you need to get your HWIC self on up here and regulate! You have that lime green wearing man still taking up residence in your very own office, and his little toady too! Now move it on along. I hope you are wearing something cute." He hangs up.

Wow. I wonder what HWIC means. I turn to Rufus and tell him I have to leave and I go to my outer office and find it revamped and modern looking. There are spells that mimic bay windows and my assistant was playing some type of music that was kind of catchy. He looked up at me and frowned.

"Nope. This will not do. I am Corvus Harris, but you can just call me Corey. You need the full treatment, but we are in a rush. Here, drink these potions. One is to stop your hair from going grey and the other is to fix your eyesight so you can get rid of that awful monacle because damn. Who told you to look like an old lady?" I drink the potions as he circles me mumbling to himself.

"Corey what does HWIC mean?" He giggles.

"It means Head Witch in Charge and you are. Okay, Miss Ammy, I will transfigure your clothes into a fierce suit and I will fix your hair. You have to work it now."

He changes my outfit to a form fitting silver dress with a light blue outer robe and I was still wearing my dragonhide boots. He held up a mirror so I could see my hair. Wow! My grey was gone and you could see all of my chestnut brown locks were pulled into a chignon. He had burned the monacle, but I could see just fine. I smiled at him. If he was as good with paperwork as he was with makeovers, we would be just fine.

"You do not have time to stand here smiling, Miss Ammy. Go and get those fools out of your office so that I can clean it up with Nelly, my house elf." Right. I storm into the office to find Cornelius sitting at my desk and Delores sitting in the visitor's chair.

"Ahem." They look up at me and Cornelius' expression changes to one of fright.

"Cornelius, you no longer work in this office. Any missives you send out will be burned before they reach the recipients. Delores, you need to swear this oath." She takes the paper and refuses to say the oath. She signs it on the refusal line. A moment later, she disappears. Cornelius is distraught.

"What did you do to her!? I need her!" Ew.

"Look, Cornelius, I appreciate that you went and talked to Dumbledore because I did not want to do it, but you are no longer the Minister for Magic. You can apply for a new position in Human Resources. Now get out of my office."

He takes his little green hat and shuffles out of the office. Corvus pushes me into a new chair and I watch he and his house elf remove all tracking and spying spells in the office and he redesigns the furniture and everything. He is a dynamo. I get new portraits too!

"Okay, Miss Ammy, you need to call the Muggle Prime Minister and tell him the deal. Fudgie did not tell him the truth. Here is his number. I have made reservations for the two of you at the Ivy at 1pm. Here is your tea and muffins for now. This parchment pad will work as a self-updating schedule." I take it and look at it and it is a nifty piece of spellwork.

"Please do not open any mail that comes for you, just let the owls land on that tray and I will handle them. I will bring all issues to you in an organized manner. Howlers will receive a return howler warning them of the fines for sending a howler to the Ministry." That is a great idea. Oh, he is still talking.

"Tracking charms will ensure that if they do it again, they will get the notices for fines. In order to be forgiven, they must write an apology to the ministry and they must help to clean up Diagon Alley for an hour each time they do it, or they have to pay the fines. Trust me, it will stop eventually."

I smile at him. He is so handsome and smart! He is only a few years older than my Susan. I think he may play for the other team, though. I still love him.

"I have you scheduled at Harrod's for shopping and a spa treatment tonight at 6pm. Just ask for Amanda. She will take good care of you. I had Nelly talk to your house elves and they are updating your wards. Oh, right. Read this." Wow, shopping! I just blink at him and read the oath to update the wards on Bones Manor.

"Now I have been talking a lot and you have things to do. I am right out there if you need me. You have a personal bathroom now just through that door. Feel free to call me on your mobile if you get stuck on something. Any notes you make on your schedule will be seen on mine." I smile and nod at him.

"Corey, please have all of the department heads to read this oath and then they have to make their departments do it as well. Let me know which ones fail to pass it and send a notice to Human Resources that any new hires must read the oath too. You are an excellent worker and I love what you have done with the place."

He beams and sets my music to play some nice tunes and leaves. I decide that since I have a moment, I will call and check on Sue.

"Hello, Auntie." She sounds happy.

"Hello, Susan. I got a new assistant named Corvus today and he is a dynamo! How are things going with you?" She starts to babble at me nonstop about Neville Longbottom and would I do a betrothal for her. Wow. She is only 15.

"Susan, dear, I would need to meet with his parents to discuss those things. Are you sure about this?" She tells me to hurry because Hannah is doing the same thing. Poor Neville.

I promise to talk to Frank and Alice as soon as possible and I make a note on my schedule to have them over for dinner soon. My schedule moves that appointment to tomorrow and there is a notation that an owl will be sent to them with the invitation.

I made another note for Corvus to receive a raise. There is no way I am letting him go! Now I just needed to get through some of this paperwork before my lunch meeting. These muffins are so good! I worked for an hour or so before I noticed that someone was at the floo. According to Corvus, that was his job, so I called him on his mobile and he swept into the office.

"What's up, Miss Ammy? You need to be freshening up for your lunch meeting with the Prime Minister. Do you need help in the muggle world?" I shake my head.

"No, Corey. I have friends that live in the muggle world and I should be fine." He nods and hands me a suit jacket that matches my dress.

"This has a dragon hide liner for safety and your jewelry is spelled with anti-theft charms. Take these keys. They are to your ministry approved car. It is a Lexus and it will drive itself to your location. Now is there anything else?"

I open my mouth to speak when I notice that the Headmaster is trying to get through the floo, but his beard is caught and pulled by the sudden swarm of Cornish pixies. I like that spell, too. We both let him suffer for a few minutes before Corvus approaches.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster. Those orange and blue stars look very bright on your robes. Do you have an appointment? If so, I apologize because I scheduled Madame Bones for a lunch meeting today." I hold in my laughter. Dumbledore gets his bearings and the pixies go away.

"No, I do not have an appointment per se, but I had been speaking with Cornelius about having an auror to teach DADA for me and I wanted an update. You are Corvus Harris and you graduated a year ago. Ravenclaw, correct?" Corey smiles.

"Yes, sir. I had the highest GPA of the year even with all of that dementor mess and I got 10 O's on my NEWTS. But enough about me. Since you are here, I am going to have to ask for your wands and sweep you for spells that could be harmful to Madam Bones and or that would compromise the secrecy of her office." He says all of this with a straight face.

Dumbledore looks at him like he cannot believe anyone would dare to ask him for his wand. I think that is the reason he uses the floo instead of coming through the atrium. Corey stands firm and within a few minutes, he has secured three wands into an ornate lead box and he has removed spying spells that he called pesky from the headmaster. He seats him and gives him hot chocolate and some cookies.

"Now, she just has a few minutes, Mr. Dumbledore. Madam Bones, would you like me to stay and take notes?" Hell yes. I love this kid!

"Yes, Corey, that would be good." He winks at me and takes out his muggle notepad. Albus clears his throat. He starts talking about Hogwarts and working together for the Greater Good and I just want him to get to the point. He finally winds down.

"So, will you allow me to have an auror, Amelia? I also want to have an auror presence on the train this year since Voldemort is back and all." I smile at him.

"Albus, I recommend that you go to Human resources to find a DADA teacher. I need all of my aurors to do their jobs. I will assign security at King's Cross this September, but we are working on a new plan that will minimize our presence to the muggles. I will owl you about it. Do you need anything else?" He just stares hard at me and suddenly, he falls asleep. I look up at Corey who is tsking.

"Miss Ammy, he was trying to break into your mind. Where is your Head of House ring?" I show him the necklace I wear it on and he smiles.

"Good, that protected you. Now you run along to your meeting. Your car is black and your keys will portkey you inside. Here are some notes to talk to the Prime Minister about and I will see you later. I will take care of Mr. Dumbledore for you. No worries!"

I allow him to push me into my bathroom which is luxurious and I freshen up. When I am ready, I use my keys and I am suddenly inside a wonderful car.

"Please state your destination." I tell the car where I want to go and it takes over. I love magic!

 **Corvus POV**

"And so, I think that he passed out or something, Nurse Barnes. Would you just give him a onceover to make sure he is alright?"

I had taken the headmaster to St. Mungo's right quick. Bloodfang sent me a note that of the three wands I sent him through the box, only two belonged to the headmaster and he was returning the other one to its rightful owner. That was nice. I know how much he hates thieves.

"Of course, Corey. You can call me Gertrude you know. We graduated at the same time." I shake my head at her and wink. She is a Hufflepuff, and I loved her loyalty. She was also nice to poor little Harry Potter throughout that whole Heir of Slytherin ordeal.

"Trudy, you know that we must do this by the book, now give him a work up and have him treated for any issues. Here are his wands. I have to go. See you Friday night for the Usher concert!" I loved watching that man dance. She smiles at me and I leave.

At my desk, there is a line of people. I had left them numbers so that they stayed orderly. My first customer was Elphias Doge and as he handed me his number, the spell on the parchment showed me that he was on the Wizengamot and he was loyal to Dumbledore. I smiled at him.

"Hello, Mr. Doge. How can I help you today? Have you taken your oath?" He frowned at me, but remained behind my yellow line. I loved my spellwork and I loved the muggle DMV.

"Now see here, you! I am not taking that oath and I want to see the Minister at once!" I hear some people in line agreeing with him and waving their number parchments at me. All they needed were pitchforks. They are so silly and they do not recognize that they are in my domain. I nod and smile.

"I apologize, Mr. Doge. Will you and any others that have a problem with the oath please follow me?" I lead the majority of the mob in my little outer office to a spelled conference room. Once they are all seated I begin.

"Listen, people, you work for the ministry. The ministry is changing its policies. If you want to keep your jobs, you will swear the oaths and mean it. If not, you can sign on the line stating your refusal. Those are your only two options of getting out of those seats." They grumble and struggle to get loose.

"The Minister is not to be disrespected. Showing up yelling and trying to bully me will not get you into her office any sooner. Make a choice and have a magical day." I leave them behind with their yelling and see that I only have five people left.

My next customer is Lucius Malfoy and doesn't he look fabulous. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" He grins at me.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Harris. I am here to drop off a proposal for a mentoring program for muggleborns. I am suggesting that they are assigned to a fifth year student that will help them throughout the month of August and into the school year. I am willing to fund it as well as provide portkeys for the children and their families."

I called Nelly and asked her if I was dreaming and she said no. She left and I took the proposal and wrote an urgent note the Miss Ammy that she should say yes. I sent it off to her briefcase and she would send it back within a few minutes.

"Mr. Malfoy, this is wonderful and I am sure it will be made into policy at once. Have you spoken with Miss McGonagall about this? I am sure that she would be thrilled."

He points behind him in line and I smile. I ask them to sit together and Nelly brings them some tea and biscuits while I deal with the few other stragglers. I make the appointments for them and they all leave.

The paperwork comes back and I duplicate it for them.

"Here you are Professor and Lord Malfoy. Your proposal has been approved and the Ministry is matching your funding. Professor, you just choose your students and they will be matched up with incoming muggleborns and muggle raised students." She reads through the paperwork. She looks a little haggard.

"Listen, I can get you into Harrod's tonight with Miss Ammy and we can get you a makeover and a massage. You must be so stressed out lately. Did you know that Lord Black has the second highest Transfiguration Newt after you, Ma'am?" She smiles at me.

"You are a gem, Mr. Harris. Yes, I will contact Lord Black and I think that makeover sounds good." I beam at her and hand her a potion to drink. I turn to Lord Malfoy.

"Sir, you are very innovative and I think your program will be a success. I am loving your sleeveless robe also. Do you need anything else from me?" He clears his throat.

"Yes, I am looking for a new assistant and I heard through the grapevine that you are the best. Can you recommend someone to me?" I smile at him and call Penny. She answers with music playing independent woman by destiny's child. She agrees to take the job but she says that he had better be nice. I hang up.

"Lord Malfoy, you should get one of these mobile phones and then you can give them to your student reps. The muggleborns will love them, too and this way they can contact their parents. I called Penny Clearwater and she will await your owl or phone call. She has a good attitude and she will do a good job for you."

I hand him the business card for Bloodfang. He sells the phones through his contact at AT&T. I had invested with them, too.

Mr. Malfoy smiles. "Yes, my son told me all about these mobiles today. Thank you, Corvus. I will be in touch with you later this week, Minerva. Thank you for hearing me out." She nods at him and he leaves.

"Wow, he was so polite to me that I insisted on coming with him to meet with Amelia, but I see that she is busy. Thank you for making me that appointment, Corvus. You know that Filius and I voted for you to become Head Boy, but Albus overruled us." She is sweet.

"It is okay, Miss Kitty." She laughs at her house elf nickname.

"I was able to become an animagus in my spare time. I even registered with the ICW." She gasps and leans forward.

"What are ye lad?" She gets the cutest little accent sometimes.

"I am a silver lynx and I am fabulous!" She giggles at me and hugs me.

"Okay then, I have to go. Do you have a portkey I can take to the store?" I nod at her and hand her some keys.

"This is to a ministry car. It will drive you to the store and back here. Just press the button to activate the portkey. You can owl the keys back to me. You will be fabulous this year and if you hire Lord Black, he can teach the younger years and you can do like years 5 through seven. He is on the school board anyway." She hugs me again and leaves in a great mood. Good. Miss Ammy might be minister, but I will run this place.

 **Amelia Bones POV**

"You mean that terrorist is back?" I nod at the Prime Minister.

"We are doing our best to minimize any impact this will have on your citizens, Mr. Blair." He smiles at me.

"I must say that I am pleased you called instead of just showing up in my office." I eat my salad that is delicious.

"We have decided to try to be less intrusive. Now that you have my number and my assistant's number, you can reach us immediately. I have a plan that will help in September as well. My assistant has given me this list of former graduates of our school and I hope you can help me to locate them. They can become our new liason department. They will handle all issues that we have like a go between."

He liked all of my ideas and agreed to help me out. We shook hands and I took my car back to my office. Corvus was dancing in his chair.

"Hey there, Miss Ammy. The copies of the new muggleborn program are on your desk and you need to press this button when you are ready to meet with Griphook about security at Azkaban."

What? I looked at my schedule and Griphook was next. I smiled and walked into my office. Corey was right so far today and this would be my second to last meeting before I could leave.

I pressed the button and the goblin appeared before me in a suit. "Hello, Madam Bones, I am Griphook. We have outlined a new security plan for Azkaban and we can destroy the dementors. Do you want me to explain it to you or will you trust in the goblin nation?" Wow, he is right to the point.

"I will trust in the goblin nation. Please show me where to sign, Griphook and thank you." He grins at me and drinks his coffee.

"This expresso is delicious. We have tried before to get the former minister to institute safety measures but he refused. We told him that we knew how Sirius Black escaped but he ignored us. I think someone was paying him off. Oh, look at this list of people that give bribes to the minister that I just dropped. Clumsy me." I smiled.

"I will have our warriors ready to move on Azkaban tonight. There will be no more dementors by tomorrow, Minister. Here is your muggle credit card. Bloodfang sends his regards. He is a very influential goblin these days." He was very efficient.

"I was recommended by Harry Potter to deal with Azkaban and the dementors. He offered a reward to any goblin that could destroy them. He said that they had attacked him the previous year. Poor little wizard. Do you need anything else?"

I smiled at him and took the list and my new credit card. "Nope, but I know you guys are just a phone call away. You know, acutally, I think that all muggleborns should have an inheritance test when they come to Gringott's and the ministry would be willing to pay for it." He beamed a smile at me.

"I like you, Minister. We hate when vaults are not active. I will take your suggestion to Ragnook and we will send the paperwork to young Corvus. Time is money, so I will not waste yours. May the bones of your enemies break beneath your feet." He disappeared. Wow.

I checked my schedule and I see that my next appointment is with Thorfin Rowle. According to Corey's notes, he is a neutral and he wants to open a new shop but he cannot get the permits. Corey notes that I should say yes. Fine.

Thorfin comes inside and sits down after bowing to me. He is so proper. "Thank you for seeing me. I propose that we open a wizarding coffee shop, Minister. It will be run by house elves and we can serve all kinds of coffees from around the world, pastries and soups for lunch. There will be an area that people can sit and relax and just read or something, too." That is a good idea.

"I will hire seventh year students to help out and I want to open one in Hogsmeade and one in Diagon Alley. I have been blocked on this many times. I have the backing of the Lily Flower Corporation, so I think it will be a success. I just need the permits as I already have the space." That sounds good to me.

"Okay, Mr. Rowle. I suggest you go to the goblins to have the warding done and maybe you can ask the elves to help with that too. Here are your permits and I wish you success in your endeavor." He shakes my hand.

"Thank you! If you had said no, I would have considered listening to Avery and becoming a death eater. I am not prejudiced, but many joined up with You Know Who because they could not get other work. I will tell my associates about you. Have a good evening." He rushes out the door and Corey comes back inside.

"I have made appointments with all of his little friends with you for the next few days. We will keep an eye on them, Miss Ammy. Now you need to scoot. You have an appointment. Miss McGonagall will meet you there." Really? That will be great. Maybe she could tell me what to say to Frank and Alice. I hugged Corey and left the office. What a day!


	10. Chapter 10

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **The Dark Lord POV**

The man known to the entire wizarding world as You Know Who and He Who Must Not Be Named sat in his expansive room in Slytherin Castle deep in thought. First his rebirth ritual was botched by that damned rat Pettigrew, then he lost Snape and Pettigrew and he had been evicted from Malfoy Manor. Truth be told, he was only staying there because he did not want his followers to come and mess up his castle. The rugs on the marbled floors were antiques and some of those fools were nothing more than thugs.

Lucius also defected, but at the time he did not blame him. He had lost his wife and child, not to mention his home. The poor man was distraught. If there was one thing Tom Marvolo Riddle could not abide, it was a crying man and Lucius had shed buckets of tears that night. He had sicced Barty Crouch Junior on him, but that might not have been a good idea.

Barty had returned with a letter from Lucius citing irreconcilable differences and a wish to work together in the future without all of the murdering and raping. Those had never been goals of mine anyway. Who would listen to a psychopath? These were the thoughts I am having right now. I can think clearly for the first time in centuries. The crumpled letter in my hand was not expected either.

He sent me a tee shirt that said 'Let me show you my parseltongue'. Who knew Harry Potter had a sense of humor? He wrote that the prophecy was probably faked because he was adopted anyway. He also pointed out that it was given in a job interview that was held in a bar. He said it was a setup and that there was probably some ritual that Lily Potter performed that caused him to lose his body for all of that time.

Blast! He used to be smarter than to fall for such a ploy. That brought up Potter's other point. He had found that he had been a horcrux and the goblins had destroyed all of his other horcruxes. Each time I had received an energy boost in the past week, I could not explain it.

My appearance and magic had also been nearly restored. I look like a thirty year old man instead of that creature that rose from that cauldron. I am so glad that Pettigrew was captured. He was almost worthless and he sold out his friends. What kind of loyalty did that demonstrate?

I looked at Nagini. I would have to reverse the ritual I performed with her. It was pointless using horcruxes anyway. Potter asked what I really believed in because he said no one really tells him anything, they just say he killed his parents blah blah blah. Potter said that maybe I should disband the death eaters and focus on working with the ministry to achieve my goals.

He raises a good point. He also said that the goblins hate war and did I want all of them against me? No, I certainly did not. I called Barty into the room. I trust him and Regulus Black who is not dead. I placed him into stasis because I wanted to know why he took my horcrux, but I never found out. He had told me that it was important. I was too far gone at the time to listen to him.

Barty finally showed up. Is he a wizard or what? I snapped my fingers and Boa, my head house elf showed up. He was wearing a dark green tee shirt and matching pants. The tee shirt said "I know how to find the Chamber of Secrets". He even had on shoes. When I asked who freed him, he calmly explained that he was not running around half naked and that if I wanted house elves, I would allow them to wear what they wanted. He was smart, so I had just nodded at him.

Now they both stared at me. "How can I help you, Master Thomas?" That was another thing. They all insisted on calling me Master Thomas. I do not really like my name. I sighed. "Must you call me that name, Boa?" He smiled at me.

"That is being your name. Own it, Master Thomas. You look stressed out. Did you read the letter? I got it from Pappy who got it from Jewel who got it from Socks. I told you who Socks' master is, Master Thomas." I nod at him.

"Yes, Boa, I know who it is from. Now, I would like another of your wonderful smoothies and one for Barty here. I will respond to the letter soon, Boa. Thank you." He popped away. Barty finally spoke up. I know he is staring at my tee shirt. Potter sent it, and it says 'Priori Incantantem: I know What You Did Last Summer'. He is hilarious.

"My Lord, you are looking quite well. How may I be of service to you?" Do they all talk to me that way? I am not wearing robes, but I am sure that if I was, he would kiss them. Was I that ridiculous? I am so frustrated.

"Barty, I require your discretion and your honesty." He nods before I can finish my sentence. Boa comes back and gives us a smoothie and he has one for himself. He sits down on a little couch that he conjured and crossed his legs. Barty just stared at him.

"Do you think that our original goals will be served by disbanding the death eaters and working in the political arena?" He just blinks at me and opens and closes his mouth.

"I think that is being a great idea, Master Thomas! Think of it! You can go shopping without people running and screaming from yous and you can talk to people instead of killing them! Maybe you can go on a little vacation or something and get some sun. You is being too pale, Master Thomas. Would you like a potion to fix your eyes so they are not red anymore?" I looked at Boa and smiled. This is what I wanted, an honest opinion.

"Boa, tell me the truth, do you and the other elves have a plan?" He gets up and hands me a potion. How many pockets does he have? I drink the potion and there is a tingling in my eyes and then it goes away.

"Yes, we has many plans, but you wizards are not asking for our help! The goblins have plans, too, but you always try to work against them. The centaurs have plans, but you treat them like animals. Right now, the elves and the goblins are working together to help you wizards. War is bad, Master Thomas. No more killing people. Now you are smart. You should be meeting other smart wizards and witches and you should be getting married and having some heirs. Do you want the Slytherin bloodline to die out?"

He sits down and drinks his smoothie. That was a lot to think about. I never used to think that elves were smart. I feel bad for how I used to order them around. They prepared my food. I am an idiot.

"My Lord, maybe you should follow the advice of Boa. I know that I miss my elf Winky. My evil father gave her clothes!"

"Winky is fine, Master Barty! She has a new family to care for. I can be telling her to visit you or you can just call her. I am sure she will come." Barty looks happy and he calls Winky. She pops in wearing a dress and shoes and an apron. She looks around and waves at Boa.

"Hello, Master Barty, Master Thomas. You is looking less like a snake now, so that is good. Are you taking your vitamin potions? You is looking kind of thin and pale. Boa needs to feed you more and let you go outside." She hands me a potion and I take it. She nods and goes over to Barty to fuss over him.

"Master Barty, clothes just meant I was fired, but we elves do need a family to bond with or to work for Hogwarts or Gringott's or we get a little crazy. How are you doing? Do you still want to kill people?" Barty shakes his head no.

"No, Winky. I just wanted to be accepted somewhere and you know how mean my father was all the time. It was horrible being under that curse for so long. I think I only survived thanks to your wonderful care. Do you like your new family?" She smiles and takes out pictures.

"Now, you promise not to hurt them, Master Barty?" He nods.

"Good, I am working for Master Xeno that owns the Quibbler. He is a little strange, but he is smart and funny. His little daughter is very intelligent. She knows things. Do you want to give an interview? I can go and get Master Xeno." Barty shakes his head no.

"Not right now, Winky. I am a wanted criminal. They will put me back into Azkaban." She hums and nods while patting Barty's hair.

"Okay, I will work on it. Maybe you have to change your name like Master Thomas." What?

"I have to change my name?" She looks at Boa who sighs.

"I was going to tell you later, Master Thomas. First you have to respond to the letter, and then I was going to suggest that you change your name. You also need to go running in the morning for five miles every day." Maybe I would take his advice.

"I has to go now, Master Barty. Take care and eat your vegetables. See you later!" Winky pops out.

"Winky has a great family now, Master Barty. Do not worry about her. Now, your other friend is coming, Master Thomas." Boa popped out and came back with another smoothie for Regulus who was moping and flopped onto the chaise lounge.

"What is your problem?" He sighs.

"My brother." This was going to take a long time.

"What about him, Regulus?" He turns to face us.

"My brother is in Italy having a grand old time and he thinks I am dead, My Lord. If I was to show up there, he would try to kill me because I joined you. He is the Lord Black and that is nice, but he is still my big brother. I saw in the paper that he is friends with Lord Prince. You know that is Severus, right? He always liked the name Sebastian. That should be me smiling with my brother. He probably hates me!"

I hope he is not about to cry. He has been moping ever since I performed the counter spell and he realized what year it was. He was most insubordinate and I had to give him a time out. I had decided not to speak to him for a week. He had finally apologized and said that at least I did not kill him.

"Regulus, would you feel better if I removed the dark mark?" He sat up with wide eyes and stared at me.

"Would that mean you were kicking me out, because I still want to be friends with you, My Lord." I sigh.

"No, I am thinking that Barty and I change our names at Gringott's and you arrange to meet your brother and introduce us as your friends that you met while you were traveling." He runs over and hugs me. I look at Boa and he grins. Fine. I return the hug. I feel tears on my shirt. Blast!

"Come now, Regulus. Why don't you compose a letter and I will do the same and then we can make a plan to go to Gringott's tomorrow. You too, Barty." Was he smoking? I look at Boa and he has disappeared. I decided that I will do the ritual at midnight to remove the dark mark from Regulus. I had to think longer about how to handle the rest of the death eaters. What name will I choose now? Oh, the possibilities.


	11. Chapter 11

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **Albus Dumbledore POV**

I was in hell, well not real hell I suppose, but these healers would not just accept that I was fine. I am Albus Dumbledore and I have more important things to do than to spend two days under their care for observational purposes. I had almost convinced them to let me go when I had that flaming flatulence. I could not explain that or the boils that spelled goat lover on my forehead.

It was times like these that I missed Severus. When I told them to contact Minerva to come and get me as the healers insisted that I needed to be watched through the night, she was not available. I know that she sometimes visited her family, but she always came when I called. I had owled everyone I could think of until finally my surly brother showed up. He just stood there glaring at me.

"What is wrong with you, Albus?" I opened my mouth to respond and a cloud of green gas escaped and spelled 'I lie with every twinkle of my eyes.' Wow. Aberforth laughed and sat down to watch me in case something else happened.

"Things like this have been occurring since your brother was brought in yesterday, Mr. Dumbledore. We have found a number of potions in his system and a few we cannot identify. Your brother needs a detoxifying draught, but he refuses to drink it." Aberforth whipped out his wand and used a spell my mother taught him to force feed me the potion. I gagged and retched but nothing came up. The healer gasped and my brother smirked.

"Well, well, well. It seems that your beard is not really that long, huh Albus? What is the deal with that mustache? You look like a villain."

I picked up the mirror by my bedside and looked at my reflection. My beard was now a goatee and I had a curled mustache. My hair was short as well. I no longer looked wise. I looked shifty. My eyes! The twinkle was gone and my eyes were back to their normal boring blue appearance.

I flopped back onto the bed deep in thought. Maybe I could obliviate the healer. Laughter broke my thoughts and I opened my eyes to see a crowd of nurses and healers taking pictures of me. Great. This would be in the Prophet for sure.

"Can we just leave, Aberforth?" He grinned at me and posed for more pictures. His beard was real. I hate him.

"Sure thing, Albus. Here are your wands." I opened the box and took out the two wands there. Where was the Elder wand? I looked at my brother, but he was giving an interview.

"Healer Stanley, where is my other wand?" I kept my voice as normal as possible. Was she a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff? I am mostly sure it was Hufflepuff.

"Sir, these are the wands you came here with. No one but you could open the box. We charm them that way for security purposes." But, I had my wand when I went to see Amelia. Maybe she has it. I have to get out of here. I rush through signing the parchments and I agree to stay off any other potions for the next month unless it was for health purposes and I allow my brother to lead me out of St. Mungo's.

Back in my office, I try to floo call Amelia, but nothing happens. A note is passed through the floo that advises me to contact Corvus Harris to make an appointment with the minister and to have a pleasant day. I growl and floo call this young upstart. He answers the floo from an armchair and he has a muggle notepad.

"Hello, Headmaster. I see you have a new look that you are debuting. It is refreshing to see older wizards like yourself keeping it real. As a member of the Wizengamot, have you sworn your oath?"

What was this boy nattering on about? I just looked at him in question and he sent another paper through the floo. I read it and found it to be balderdash. I signed the line refusing to take the oath and I felt a tingle run through my body. What was that? I looked at Harris and he was busy making notes.

"That is your choice of course, Headmaster. Your things will be sent to you since you are no longer Head of the Wizengamot. Was there anything else you needed today, sir?"

"Young man, I did not resign as Chief Warlock." He hums at me and frowns.

"Yes, but you did. In order to work for the Ministry, you must swear the oath. Failure to do so results in losing your job. It was right there in the fine print, sir. I am sure that Madam Longbottom will be a just and fair replacement for you. Have a good day!" I yell at him to stop.

"I need an appointment with the minister as soon as possible. Also, my wand had gone missing and her office was the last place I had it. Please inform her that I would like it returned to me." He tsked at me.

"Headmaster, the minister's office has anti-theft charms. Your property was returned to you. I left both wands with the healers myself, I assure you." This boy is making me angry with his pleasant demeanor.

"I had three wands, young man. Surely you can count to three?" I give him my benevolent look. He smirks at me.

"Our wand boxes are linked to Gringott's for security purposes. It would seem that one of the wands did not belong to you, but it was a lost heirloom of an ancient family. Gringott's returned it to their vault as per policy. Is that the wand you are talking about, Headmaster?" I want to curse this meddling fool!

I clear my throat. "I may have been mistaken, young man. About that appointment?" He checks his notes.

"I can fit you in next Wednesday at 10 am, Headmaster." I growl. That was a week away!

"Fine, I will take that appointment." He cheerfully updates his notes and a new note flies out of the floo for me confirming the appointment. He waves and disconnects the floo. When did young people get so disrespectful? I still need a new DADA teacher and I have to find Harry Potter! Where can that boy be?

 **Ginny Weasley POV**

I stared at the headlines in the Daily Prophet. There were more stories about how Harry Potter was not coming back to Hogwarts and how Sirius Black started the Lily Flower Foundation. Whatever. I slammed the paper down and glared at my mother. All she does is cook and sew and eat. Ron is really her son.

"Mum, you said that this year Harry Potter would be mine! Now no one knows where he is and I want a boyfriend! I deserve to go on dates. It is boring just hanging around this house all day!" She tries to hug me, but I step away from her. Who needs to be smothered into that great bossom?

"Now, Ginny dear, you have to be patient. I am sure that Harry will come to Hogwarts this fall and you can start making him jealous. You can date some of his yearmates so he will notice you. If that does not work, let me know. You will then have to use the method I used to get your father to notice me. I will send you a mild love potion." Wow, really? I wonder if she still uses it on him because she is all kinds of fat.

"Harry will fall in love with you and then you can let him wine and dine you and buy you gifts. Doesn't that sound nice? And then, we can get him to sign a marriage contract and even if he dies, half of his vaults will go to you."

Well, it does sound like a nice plan. "So, can I date Dean?" She looked puzzled.

"He is one of Harry's roommates, Mum." She smiles and nods and I run off to the floo.

 **Ron Weasley POV**

I came down from reading my magazines to get something to eat. I am starving! I am still mad that Fred and George get to live in a nice house in Hogsmeade and I have to stay here with Mum and Ginny. I had gone to visit them and they would not let me inside. They said their house elf took care of the place and that they had friends to visit. I was left standing outside on their porch while they were popped away.

Maybe being the only son to still live at home had its perks. At least I can have all of the food I want because I am a growing boy, but Ginny was hogging the floo. While I ate, I asked Mum if she could help me to meet someone.

"Dear, is there a girl that you really like?" Yes!

"I like the veela, Mum. Make her like me back." She shakes her head.

"Ronald, dear, I really do not think that you should bother Fleur. She is not from here anyway. What about Hermione? She even helps you with your homework and I heard that she looks nice when she tries to fix herself up." I thought about it and figured it couldn't hurt. Plus, if Harry likes her, I can rub it in his four eyed face! Yes, that would be a good thing.

"Okay, Mum. Will you help me to write her a letter? I know she goes on a trip every summer with her muggle parents, but I could invite her to stay the last week of summer, yeah?" She smiles and gives me another bowl of stew. I could live at this table!

"Of course, dear. I will help you in any way I can. Do you think that you will try out for the quidditch team this year?" I smiled at Mum. She is so nice to remember that I want to be on the team.

"No, Mum. Harry did not have to try out. I will just let the team see me flying and they will come to me and insist that I join. It is all a part of my plan, you see?" She kisses my cheek.

"That is why you are mummy's special little boy, Ronald. That is a good plan. Now, I spoke with the headmaster and I am not sure that you will become a prefect, dear, but do not worry. You won't have to deal with the first years. That will be less work for you."

Maybe she had a point. I only want to be a prefect if Harry does not get it, and then I can brag about it. I really cannot stand him and he has no idea. He is really stupid. I allow my mum to feed me another helping of stew, but I save room for dessert. I just love her rhubarb pie!

 **Ginny Weasley POV**

I had fixed my hair so it looked especially shiny against my jumper. I smiled a smile that I had practiced and settled in front of the floo. I contact Dean and he answers looking distracted.

"Hi, Dean. I was wondering if you wanted to meet me in Diagon Alley? We could go for ice cream if you'd like?" I would let him watch me lick an ice cream cone. The girls in the dorms said boys liked that.

"Sorry, Ginny. I can't do that. I have a girlfriend, you see. I wonder whether Katie would like some ice cream now that you bring it up. See you!" He disconnected. How dare that half-blood! He should have been thrilled to go out with me! No matter.

I called Michael Corner. He had seemed friendly. He smiled when he answered the floo. "Hi there, Ginny. How is your family doing?" I fluttered my eyelashes at him.

"They are fine, Michael. I wanted to know if you would meet me in Diagon Alley? We could have some fun." I winked at him and he winced.

"Sorry, Ginny, but I am spending the day with Mandy. We are going out! Have a good day." He disconnected the floo as well. What was it with these boys? I tried four more boys and they all turned me down. How could this be happening?

I wrote a letter to that creepy Colin Creevy and waited an hour for a reply. He wrote that he was dating someone already. I burned the letter. Even Creepy Creevy who followed Harry Potter around like a stalker had a girlfriend?

There was no one else for me to contact. Oh! I could try Neville Longbottom. His parents were cured now and he would be almost as popular as Harry! I tried to floo him and Susan Bones answered the floo. She stared at me and raised her eyebrow. What was she wearing? I could see her legs!

"So sorry, Susan. I seem to have flooed your home by mistake. I was trying to contact Neville." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Ginny, this is Neville's house. What did you want with him?" She gives me a mean look.

"I wanted to invite him for ice cream and to spend time together if you must know, Susan. Is he tutoring you in Herbology or something? Does you aunt know you are dressed so scandalously?" She laughs.

"Miss Weasley, Neville and I have a marriage contract and my Aunt Amelia is well aware of my wardrobe. Maybe you should worry about your own clothes. This is the summer time, you know. Anyway, Neville and I have plans today, so he will not be spending any time with you. Have a good day now."

She closed the floo and I sat there and fumed. She has a marriage contract with Neville? He went to the ball with me! Of course, I only danced with him once and I passed the rest of the evening staring at Harry, but still. This was so unfair! I did not really want to date him, but who was left? Seamus Finnegan? Sighing heavily, I sent him a letter. He had to day yes.

How will I be known as the most popular girl in my year if none of the boys wanted to date me? Maybe I should take off this jumper? Mum gets so cross when we don't wear the things she makes for us. I cannot believe I am stuck in the house with Ron for company. All he wants to do is eat and read quidditch magazines. Even Loony Luna was not at home. I hate my life.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **The Dark Lord POV**

I walked into Gringott's with Barty and Regulus and we were under glamours. I asked for Bloodfang like Boa told me and we were shown into his office. He sat and stared at me and I took a deep breath.

"Bloodfang, thank you for seeing us. We want new identities and my house elf suggested that we see your healers and have inheritance tests done."

He takes our blood samples and we go to the healers. Sharpstone is no nonsense and we are finished quickly. When I look into the mirror, I look completely different. I am slightly taller and my hair is black with a blue sheen to it. How is this possible? I can also think more clearly. I follow Regulus and Barty back to Bloodfang's office and sat await our results. He asked us to take an oath and allowed us to use our wands to do so. He took a deep breath.

"Mr. Riddle, that is not your name. You were sent to that orphanage by Dumbledore. Your real parents were killed in the Grindenwald war and he wanted to steal from your vaults. We have completed an audit and we have taken back the funds. You also had a brother, but he died. He did leave a son and he named the son after you. The only truth you had growing up is that you are an Heir to the Slytherin line." Wow, I never knew this.

"Your real name is Marcus Cian Lexington. Your nephew is named Rhys Lexington. He changed his middle name from Marcus to Jamiel because he used to be Harry James Potter." This made my head spin. I had tried to kill my nephew. The man I killed was not my father? What in blazes was going on? Would my nephew accept me?

"Yes, Mr. Lexington. Stop talking to yourself. He has claimed several of his lordships and he is emancipated. I called him and told him that there is another with the claim on the Lexington lordship and he said it was cool. He now wears the heir ring. You need to send him a letter. He does not want anyone to know that he used to be Harry Potter." He turned to Barty.

Now, Mr. Crouch, you can claim the lordship of the Jones family. Please choose a first name. Barty immediately said he wanted to go by Jeffrey Bartholomew Jones and we could call him Jay Jay. I was not calling him Jay Jay. It was not dignified. Regulus would remain himself.

We did some transactions and he sold us mobile phones. He said he would put Rhys' number into my phone and he gave Regulus Sirius' number. I asked for Lucius Malfoy's number and Regulus wanted Severus' number. Barty just wanted to call people to have fun. He asked if his old friend Thorfin Rowle had a mobile and Bloodfang said yes and that he was going to open a coffee shop. He told us to go shopping and that he would send our letters to the appropriate parties.

I walked out of Gringott's and almost wanted to reach for my wand. That blasted Hagrid was coming into the bank. That oaf gets on my nerves. He loves Dumbledore entirely too much. At the robe shop, I saw some more tee shirts and I decided to get a few and we changed clothes.

My tee shirt was black with white writing and it said "Dark does not mean Evil" Heh heh. I stopped at the pet shop and we went back home. I hope the boy was receptive to me. I had a lot to make up for. I sighed and called Lucius. Hopefully he meant it when he said we could still be friends.

 **Lucius Malfoy POV**

I was relaxing at the new coffee shop with Cissa. She had agreed to this date as she said it was what normal people did and that I could not buy her affections. She looked very pretty in her open white robe and deep orange dress. It was only knee length and she was causing quite the scandal. I loved her shoes though. They were so high! I held her hand and kissed it.

"Cissy, you have to know that I adore you and I love our son. I understand that bringing a house full of guests with questionable ethics and morals was not a good idea. I apologize for trying to control you in a house that belongs to your family. I was too far gone and you leaving me has given me the wake-up call I needed. I want to change." She smiled at me.

"I have gone to the ministry and had my muggleborn mentoring program approved and Rhys and Draco suggested something called the Muggleborn Party Bus which would be similar to the Knightbus, but only for the muggleborns. I am trying to do better, Cissy. Will you forgive me and consider taking me back? You are so beautiful and I love your hair like that."

She had it in wild curls and with the blonde highlighted. She looked amazing and young and carefree. I wanted her desperately and I had already glared several would be suitors into submission.

She drank some of her coffee and squeezed my hand. "Lucius, our marriage was an arranged one and we did not even court properly. You signed the contract and treated me like a possession all of this time. I thought I could fall in love with you, but you just became so power hungry and driven. All you cared about was looking down at others and you had turned my little dragon into your clone." She takes another sip of her coffee.

"I am glad that you are using your power for good now, Lucius, but I cannot go back to just being a trophy wife. I was good at Runes and Arithmancy. I always wanted to try enchanting, but you never supported the idea. I have good business sense, Lucius. Who do you think did the magic on the mobile phones? I worked with Bloodfang on the idea." I was very impressed with my exwife. I sighed.

"Cissy, I know you are intelligent. It is one of the many qualities you have that I adore. Please believe that I have changed." She nodded and ate her muffin.

"Fine, Lucius, but I want a real wedding this time and I think I want another child. You may ask Sirius for permission and you had better not be mean to Andy, Ted or Nymphadora. I know that Ted is a muggleborn, but you had better not sneer at him. He is an excellent lawyer. Think about that, Lucius. I like your hair by the way."

I was wearing it slightly shorter. Draco said I should have it only just brush my shoulders and that I should keep the pimp cane. He had giggled with his friend Rhys and said pimping ain't easy. They are humorous. I kissed Cissa and escorted her to the floo. She had agreed!

My mobile rang and I answered it after I engaged the privacy charm. "Hello?"

"Lucius, this is Marcus. You used to know me by a different name. I have changed and I want to know if you will still be my friend. I want to talk to you." Was this the Dark Lord?

"It is good to hear from you. Maybe we can meet to talk. You should know that I am not branded anymore." He chuckled.

"That is good, Lucius, my dear friend. Meet me at a place called McDonald's. Here is the address. Dress is very casual I am told. It is in the muggle world. I will be there in thirty minutes with my friends." He hung up.

I looked at my clothes. I was wearing dragonhide pants that Rhys said looked enough like jeans. I went to the robe shop and bought a blue tee shirt that said "They only want me for my Pimp Juice." I don't know what that means, but Draco had just called me a pimp, so I was going with it.

I sent my shopping bags and my cloak back home with my elf, Jasmine. She wanted to be called Jazzy, but I could not do it. I put on my tee shirt and concentrated on the coordinates I was given and apparated.

I landed in the alley near this wildly colorful establishment with children running all around and playing on some apparatus. There were tables outside, but I went inside to see what this food was. The menu was on display and people were in long lines. This was very strange. My phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Do you have muggle money, Lucius?" I looked around and did not see the Dark Lord. I cannot believe he is coming here.

"Yes, I got some from Gringott's." There were so many people here.

"Listen, ask them to hold the onions and I suggest that you get what is called a quarter pounder. Also, get a McFlurry. It is delightful. I am at the table in the corner. I am waving. Do you see me?"

I looked and I saw three men waving. I waved back and hung up. I placed my order and supersized it. I thought it would be some sort of spell or something, but it just meant I got more fries and a larger drink. I took my food to the table and sat down. I watched the dark lord eating a muggle burger and fries with childlike glee.

"Hello, Lucius! The fries are delicious if you dip them into the barbeque sauce! Jay, go and get me some cookies!" Is he on a sugar high?

I watch this Jay person who looks a lot like Barty Crouch sigh and get up after nodding at Regulus freaking Black.

"What? I thought you died!" He grinned at me and smacked the Dark Lord's hand away from his cookies.

"Wait for your own, Marcus. I let you have my Mc Flurry." The Dark Lord, or Marcus as he was called actually pouted.

"I am telling Boa about this place. Your little friend Winky was so nice to recommend it. It is a public place and no one knows me or will eavesdrop on our conversation." He turns to me and gives me puppy eyes.

"Don't give in to him, Lucius." I shake my head and try to drink my McFlurry. That does not work, do I use the spoon thing and eat it. Wow, it is delicious. Muggles may be alright after all. Well, some of them. I would like to meet this Ronald McDonald.

"Lucius, I wanted to meet you because I have a nephew and I think he is the same age as your son. His name is Rhys and I just found out about him." I choke on my burger.

"Rhys is Draco's new best friend, Marcus. They do everything together lately with their other friends from all of the houses." He snatches his cookies from Jay and hands him a galleon.

"Marcus, this is not the same thing. Give me my two pounds." Marcus sighed and whispered to his money bag and handed Jay the right amount of money. Jay put it into his bag. They were so funny.

"This used to be Barty, but now he is Jeffrey Jones. I call him Jay. I will NOT call him Jay Jay." I nod at Jay.

"So, do you think that Rhys would like a new home or maybe some jewelry or a new house elf? I saw some new carriages outside. I could get him one of those." I shake my head at him.

"No, Marcus. I just learned this. You cannot buy his affections. Give him a small but meaningful gift. Like, if he is related to you, he can probably speak parseltongue. Give him a snake." He blinks at me and makes a call.

"Who are you calling?" He hangs up.

"I called Bloodfang to see whether Rhys already had a snake. That is a good idea and I just bought one. I was going to ask her to be Nagini's friend but they do not get along. I will give him the snake." He eats his cookies.

"Hopefully he will agree that I can come over for dinner soon. Did you know there are many of these restaurants? This food is delicious and they make it so fast, it is almost like they have magic! I would love to see their kitchens." He is delirious on sugar right now.

"Marcus, maybe it is time for us to go now." He glares at Regulus who looks long suffering. I like their tee shirts and jeans, though. Regulus has a green tee shirt that says "I'm Down With O.P.P." I lean forward and ask what that means. He whispers it to me. Oh. I am not down with that. I wonder if it looks bad that I am sitting with him. I hope Cissa does not get angry.

Jay has a tee shirt that says "I Got the Magic Touch." Should he be advertising that around muggles? I ask him and he just laughs and says they will think it is a sexual reference. Wow. I agree to chat them up to Sirius and my son when I see them and we leave. I tell him to trust me. Marcus asks for some fries to go and he almost hugs the poor teenager working behind that ordering machine. What a funny afternoon.


	13. Chapter 13

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused.**

 **I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian. This is a long chapter and I already have the next one written. Sorry about the delay.**

 **Madame Pince POV**

I was organizing my shelves again when there was a pop and my elf Izzie was standing before me in her new dress. It was quite becoming and it was bright yellow.

"Hello, Miss Irma, Ma'am. I has very good news and a surprise for you!" She bounced with happiness. I only allowed her to be noisy during the summers since she helped me to re-organize the library that was my domain. I smiled at her.

"What is it, Izzie?"

She handed me a potion and I drank it because I trust this little elf. Many times, I had almost succumbed to my overwhelming exhaustion while dealing with my responsibilities here in the library. I needed a helper, but Albus will not hear of hiring someone. I get so mad when I think of him.

I notice that I have more energy and that my back no longer aches. I use spells to move things around, but sometimes the restoration of the books is tedious and painstaking work and I spend much of my time bent over the tomes to adjust them.

"Thank you, Izzie. That was a nice surprise." She waved me off.

"No, that is not being the surprise!" She snaps her fingers and five boxes of books were on the floor before me. I looked at them and noticed that many of the titles were thought lost before. I looked at her in surprise and shock.

"Where did you get these, Izzie?" She blushes and fiddles with her dress.

"It is being a secret, Miss Irma. Now, will you let me and some of the other elves rearrange the library to include study rooms? This will let the students have a quiet area to study as a group without disturbing the rest of the library?"

That was a splendid idea! I had given up hope of ever having an efficient library. Now I could work on my cataloguing spells. I wanted to tie all of the books into a master book that tracked them and then I could use it to recall overdue books.

"I can help you with that, too, Miss Irma." I did tend to mutter to myself. I nodded at her and a team of elves popped in wearing little outfits and they started to make changes to my precious library. This was wonderful. I decided to get out of their way and visit Poppy in the infirmary.

I found her reclining on a lounge in her private quarters drinking what looked like a milkshake. She noticed me standing there and sent a muting spell at the device she had been staring at.

"Hello, Irma! Would you like a milkshake? She snapped her fingers and her elf, Lettie, popped in and she asked for a milkshake for me in chocolate, which is my favorite." I sat down and wondered about the device.

"This is a television and it is a muggle object, Irma. I received one from Sirius Black. He said I deserved to kick back my heels and relax. He sent me instructions to work it and it is simply wondrous! My elf, Lettie and her friends are working on the infirmary, so I am just relaxing."

She looked like a diva lying there. I find that I am quite jealous.

"If this keeps up, I can take the rest of the summer off. I have been assured by the new Potions Master that my stores will be stocked, so I have no worries. I was thinking about going on a muggle cruise. You should come with me, Irma. We never go anywhere and we can learn all about the muggle world. I have these brochures. Look at them with me."

She made a good point and this milkshake is delicious. I sat down and wondered why I never took a vacation before. That thought gave me pause. I mean it is the summer time. Why should I not enjoy recreational time? I took the brochure and looked at the pictures.

"How will we make arrangements, Poppy? Also, we need different clothes and money and such." She just smiled and pulled out a device and talked into it. When she was finished, she sat back.

"I just used this mobile phone to call Minerva. She had a makeover recently with Madam Bones. She told me all about it and she looks wonderful by the way. Minnie says that we can go together and get a makeover and then we can ask my goblin, Swingblade to help us."

A throat was cleared behind me and I turned to see Minerva. She looked years younger and she was wearing a pretty red dress with a gold belt and dragonhide black boots. She wore a black open robe and her hair was in a loose chignon, but there was no grey.

"Minnie, you look wonderful!" She smiled and sat down. Lettie popped in and gave her a coffee milkshake.

"Thank you. I had my hair done and I wear it down sometimes now too. I love my new clothes and with a few spells and impervious charms, they are quite comfortable to wear even here in the castle. So, are the two of you going to go on the cruise? If so, I will come along. I do not have to do the muggleborn visits this August, so I am free. We can leave on August the first." Wow.

"What do you mean you do not have to do the muggleborn visits, Minnie?" She grinned and drank from her milkshake.

"There is a new mentoring program where the fifth year students I chose will greet all of the muggleborns and they even have adult supervision. They will take them to Diagon Alley and also they will have a cookout party for them and answer all of their questions. They will take them to Gringott's for heritage tests and all I have to do is to send out the letters, and they go out automatically." She sat back and crossed her legs.

"I have noticed that the castle looks much better lately, too. I will visit my family for the next two weeks, and then I will be ready to meet the two of you for the cruise. What do you say, Irma? If I am correct, your elf is taking over the library and doing what would have taken you weeks to do in a few days."

She was right. Dare I hope to visit with my cousins and that I will actually enjoy my summer? I smiled and asked Lettie for some cupcakes. Why not go all out? I missed lunch after all. "Yes, Minnie and Poppy. Count me in." They both squealed in excitement.

"First things first, ladies." Minnie looked deadly serious. "You have to go to Gringott's and get your accounts squared away. Ask for the healers to see you and then ask to buy a mobile phone, Irma. After that, ask for an appointment at Harrods' and go and get your makeovers. Those girls are wonderful." I leaned back and thought about it.

"Let's finish our snacks, Poppy. We have some living to do. Minnie, thank you for your advice." Things were looking up for me.

 **Rhys POV**

"Drake, maybe the piñatas are a bit much? What is even inside them?" He just waved me off and continued to decorate.

I hope it was something slimy and that it popped all over Sirius. He had chosen to wake me up in his animagus form this morning at freaking five am. Of course, the motorbike that he gave me was nothing to sneer at even though I promised not to ride it until he gave me lessons. He was the best godfather ever!

Sebastian had given me a small chest containing potions for concentration, headaches, fever, colds, skelegrow, nutrients, breathing underwater (that was an inside joke between us from the gillyweed) and my favorite, the animagus potion. I had hugged him and thanked him.

Nymphie had given me a dragonhide trench coat. She said it looked badass. Drake, Nev and the guys all wanted one and pestered her until she gave them the name of the store where she had it made.

Lu gave me earrings that were diamond studs with charms on them to avoid being eavesdropped on. She was so clever. Of course she was hounded by the guys who also wanted some.

Drake and the guys gave me this party.

There was hip hop music playing and the grounds near my pool had been transformed into what looked like an oasis. The girls were all dressed in bikinis with cover ups and the guys were in board shorts. He had set up a volleyball game, a large wizard's chess game that made me laugh and a sand pit because he wanted us to play tug of war.

I realized that this was my fault. Drake said it was his duty as my best friend (to which Nev had raised an eyebrow and I had said they were both my best friend) to throw me a party. He just loved to be in charge. I had told him my birthday was July 15th and he had been properly scandalized that I had not really had any plans.

Draco had conferred with Sirius and they had come up with this huge party and all of our friends were dancing and playing. I refused to play spin the bottle and Drake pouted. I conceded to the paintball tag game, so he cheered back up. There was also a pin the tail on the dragon game. They were incorrigible.

I had been made to wear a crown and Lu was wearing a tiara. She said that I was all kinds of dishy and that she needed to remind the girls who I belonged to. I thought the charm bracelet I gave her was proof of that. She had snogged me for almost a full minute when I gave it to her. She just said that all I had to do was keep trusting her.

I know that since we spent a year together in the time chamber, Lu and I are a year older, making me 16 and her 15 until her birthday in September, but we did not want to advertise these facts. So today, I am officially 15 and she will turn fifteen on the second of September.

We had grown steadily closer during our training and as we grew emotionally closer, our bodies aged. Lu looks amazing for fourteen. She was so overjoyed that she tested into the fifth year with me. We made a pact not to hide our intelligence. That will really burn Granger's biscuits. Heh heh.

I cannot stand a liar and she was spying on my while pretending to be my friend and for what? Books? She still does not realize that history is written by the victor and that she should cross-reference books on any topic. The poor, clueless, bookworm.

Oh, well. She had her chance and now she will not have the Harry Potter zone to bask in. She could enjoy her time with her dim-witted, quick tempered, bad manners having, idiotic jealous red headed wanker of a boyfriend. Why she likes him, I will never know. Who would develop a crush on the kid that almost got them killed and that loves to see them cry? Maybe she is into that being punished stuff. Ew! I just gave myself images.

Think about Lu, Rhys!

I originally thought she was a little crazy when she suggested that I convince Padfoot to invest with me in the Lily Flower Foundation, but it was a great idea. We provided scholarships for muggleborns and those that needed it. There was a whole division that provided grants and startup loans to businesses. I had Bloodfang handling that part.

I asked Sirius if he would sell the tee shirts we thought up and he jumped on that idea. The thing that really made me question my girlfriend's sanity was when she insisted that I write to the dark lord. She said he would make a nice friend. I wrote the letter and even sent him a tee shirt. Lu had just patted my hand and said I was a good boyfriend and that I would be happy with the outcome.

Fine, I have to trust her. She finally just admitted that she was faking the whole dumb blonde routine so that no one would know that she had a little of the Sight. She said that she did not get full visions, but that she saw possible outcomes of situations. I trust my little Moon Girl. She is amazingly beautiful and she was waving me over to the sandpit. It was time to play tug of war and it was the kids against the adults.

Later, I could only admit to being confused when Sirius pulled me into my study and Mr. Lovegood was there with Lu. They were both admiring the tapestries and making notes while talking about more crazy animals that only they could see.

I just stared at Sirius until he took a deep breath and admitted the reason that I was here. I know it cannot be the don't have sex talk because we had learned about that during our training. Sex was magical and the first time had all kinds of potential rituals attached to it. We had promised to wait until we were both at least sixteen using the calendar, so that was a year off.

"Rhys, with both of you going into the fifth year this year, it is the prime time for witches and wizards to start to think about being a couple, which leads to…"He cleared his throat. I interrupted him.

"Padfoot, we are not having sex!" He laughed a loud barking laugh at me.

"No, and I should hope not!" He continued to laugh at me. I was missing a perfectly good birthday cake right now and he wants to make fun of me!

"Young Lexington, clear your nargles! We are here to discuss the betrothal of you to my Little Moonflower. We will stipulate a chastity clause for one year and one day, after that, the contract changes into a marriage contract. We want the second son to have the Lovegood name and we wish to retain the Lovegood properties as separate from your own. You must also agree to two expeditions per year and all of the pudding my Little Moonflower wants."

Was he serious? I looked at Sirius and he was nodding at the dicta quill. Lu was humming and dancing to music that only she could hear. She looked so beautiful in silver! I loved that top and she still had her tiara on her head and that little ruffled skirt that she had changed into!

Sirius cleared his throat. "We will stipulate to the second son and the properties and the pudding, but if we have to do expeditions, then we want at least two prank wars per year, family photos every season, two trips abroad and they have to become an animagus." Xeno was nodding at the dicta quill and Lu spoke up.

"No cheating, no lying, no unforgivables and you sleep cuddled with me every night." I nodded at her and gave my own conditions.

"No long skirts, no cutting your hair any shorter, no hiding your brilliance and you prank my would be suitors and I will prank yours."

She giggled and jumped into my arms. Sirius signed the agreement and Xeno signed. We both signed it and exchanged platinum rings that were enchanted against theft, mind magic and anyone that touched us wrong would be stunned.

I had loved these rings when I saw them in my vault and I had confided to Sirius that I hoped to give one to Lu soon. They had little hands holding hearts with crowns on them and suns and moons. They were perfect.

Almost in unison, we said, "While I wear this ring, I will have no other."

The rings glowed and shrunk to fit our fingers. There were flashes from their cameras and they were both sniffling into handkerchiefs. Awww.

Xeno kissed his daughter and shook hands with Sirius and glared at me a little before laughing, and then he took his portkey and left. He was always on the move and he had to interview the minister. He had promised to publish a small tidbit about his daughter finding the Crumpled horn snorkack and taming it. He was hilarious.

We kissed and Sirius broke us up and opened the study. Theo was coming inside with his parents and Millicent and her parents. Sirius gestured to the dicta quills and saluted them with is baseball cap.

"Thank you, Rhys for the use of your study. I find that this is an excellent idea." Theo was so funny.

"Sure thing, Theo. Congratulations. Where is Drake?" He smiled and pointed.

I saw that Drake had his own ring and was holding hands with Tory. I scanned the room and saw that Daphne was holding hands with Blaise. Good for them! Neville came pimp walking up to me with two women on his arms. No he did not! Hannah and Susan! Way to go Nev!

"What's up, Nev?" He gave me a head nod. He is very mellow. I cannot believe he now grows cannabis in his greenhouses!

"So, I have a betrothal to Hannah and a line continuation marriage contract with Susan. I am getting two wives! High five!" He held up his hand showing two rings and the girls giggled. I slapped him five and hugged him.

"Congratulations, Nev. Now congratulate me back!" He did and we went in search of the rest of the crew to find that Anthony was holding hands with Megan Jones. Way to go getting a Hufflepuff! Apparently they were freaks. He blushed. Damn. I said that out loud.

"Sorry. Megan. Congratulations on your betrothal to Anthony. Give him the Kama Sutra to read. He will study it like he has to earn a NEWT." She giggled and smacked my arm.

"Let's go get that cake, Lex. My parents said they had to leave, well actually, Mother left first. Father had been looking at her like she was the last treacle tart on the platter. They are kind of a cross between gross and adorable like this. I am so glad that Father changed. I was going to prank the hell out of him. Jazzy is a vindictive house elf and she likes me."

I laughed and hugged Drake. He really was such a good friend and he hardly acted like a pompous little blowhard anymore. When he did, I just turned his hair red and he would be horrified into behaving better. As they sang a bawdy birthday song to me, all I could do was smile.

 **Amelia Bones POV**

I was fidgeting. No I was not! Well, maybe a little. Corvus had scheduled this interview with the Quibbler before a blind date that he set up for me. He even picked out my outfit. It was a pretty gold sundress with matching shoes and it had a flirty hem that came to just below my knees with a black lined half robe. He said I would own it in that dress.

Right now, though, I was in a deep blue wrap dress that Amanda said made my figure look amazing. Who was this mysterious match? He would not tell me and he said that I had to do this interview. I am so thrilled that Susan got her marriage contract! The Longbottoms were also very pleased about the contract.

The Abbotts were pleased with their betrothal as well. Those girls shared everything, so I am just happy that they did not get into a duel over Neville. He was growing up to be quite handsome, too. He had demonstrated his prowess with a wand by using a Patronus messenger to tell his friend that he was in a meeting and that he would call him later. It was quite impressive.

There was a knock on the door, and then Corey swept in. He was dressed for his night out already in dragonhide pants and a black tee shirt that said "You make me wanna…".

"Okay, Miss Ammy, Mr. Lovegood is here. Here are the answers to the questions he will ask you. Now smile." I smile and he takes my picture.

"Good. Now that that is out of the way. Here is the portkey to your date. Be nice. He is not what you think! Promise me." I sigh and trust him.

"I promise, Corey." He beams a smile at me and hustles out, telling me to call him if I needed him and not to allow a sleepover on the first date. I giggle at him and Xeno Lovegood comes inside and sits opposite me.

"Hello, Minister Bones. Shall we have our interview or do you want to hear about my daughter being betrothed?" He shows me some pictures of his little girl and a handsome young man holding hands and I show him mine of Susan and Neville.

"Splendid! Just splendid! I have a copy of those interview answers. I will just print them as your wonderful assistant gave them. Now, will you be having a double wedding since your niece is going into a plural marriage? This is off the record, I assure you. The reason I ask is that she is friends with my daughter's circle of friends and they may all decide to have their events as a big spectacle."

I smile and lean back. It was nice to just talk to him and not feel under pressure to be politically correct.

"I will let you know, Xeno. I know that the girls are just thrilled about the contracts. They requested the silliest things!" He smiled and put his notepad away.

"Yes, we got all the pudding she wants as a part of ours. I thought it was a nice touch. He barely blinked at that or when I stipulated that the Lovegood vaults remain as such." I giggled helplessly.

"Good for you, Xeno. Thank you for coming and I want you to know that I have always been on the lookout for your animals. I have yet to find one, though." He shook my hand and then he kissed it. My alarm went off and I apologized.

"I have an appointment and I need to get ready. I apologize." He grinned at my flustered appearance.

"I am sure that you will have a nice date, Amelia. I will see myself out. I have a deadline, you know."

He waves and leaves and I change my clothes. I did look younger these days and I received a lot of compliments. I changed my clothes and took out my portkey and activated it. When I landed, I was in a gazebo on some lush grounds surrounded by flowers and it was sunset. I stood there taking in the beauty of the moment and a voice behind me spoke.

"You are looking beautiful as always, Madam Bones. I turned and saw Evan Rosier, a suspected death eater. I almost reached for my wand, but I was reminded of Corvus and his parting remarks that this man is not what he seemed. I took a deep breath. He was very handsome and he was 6'3" tall and slightly muscular with light brown hair that curled slightly and was cut in an attractive shorter style.

"Thank you, Mr. Rosier. Exactly where are we?" He smiles and sets down the tray he was carrying and offered me a chilled drink.

"We are at my villa in France, Madam Bones. This is sparkling cider. I will not be offended if you check it." I sat down and I did check the drink. It was as he said. I was being foolish! I cleared my throat.

"Call me Amelia, Evan. I have many questions." He took my hand and kissed it. I noticed that he was wearing an open sleeveless robe and that he did not have the dark mark.

"My dear Amelia, I am not a death eater. I was a sympathizer until he went crazy and started killing. I thought that his goals of recognizing all magicks and creatures were just the things the magical world needs. I mean, we trust our money and valuables to the goblins but we do not recognize them as a sentient race." He had a point there.

He sipped his cider. "Do not even get me started on the house elves. My elves are wonderful and I tell them that all of the time. They usually just humor me and boss me around. You know I had to bribe your assistant to schedule this date. He questioned me under elf wards set up by his elf and I could not lie. He is an asset to you, Amelia."

Well, that was interesting. So was the fact that every time he said my name, I got a little thrill. I had never really thought about dating outside my own house in school and now I can admit it was rather shortsighted of me.

"So, what do you have planned for this date, Evan?" He chuckled.

"I want us to eat, to talk and to play this great game called scrabble. Another time, we can go to the muggle cinema. I want to court you, Amelia. Your virtue is safe from me. For now." He hands me a beautiful orchid that I know has a charm on it to prevent wilting and I put it on feeling so giddy. I never had a corsage before!

"So, I hope you have grilled salmon and chocolate cake, Evan." He winked at me and snapped his fingers. A well-dressed elf showed up.

"Yes, E, what is it? We are playing poker with the elves from the Black and Lexington families. That Socks has a good poker face! The winners gets to clean the Chamber of Secrets, so what do you need you helpless little man?" I giggled. These elves were hilarious.

"Sorry to distrurb you, Cally. Could you please bring our dinner out here and set up the game in the parlor with dessert?" She sighed and snapped her fingers.

"You poor useless wizard. Did you even try to summon it first before you bothered me?" She turns to me.

"Hello, Miss Bones, Ma'am. Go easy on E. He has no dating experience but he is a good wizard underneath. Way underneath. He needs a strong lady like youse." I nod and smile at her. She goes back to nagging Evan.

"No being naked on the first date and no getting her drunk! See if she wants a contract and include more babies! We needs babies here, E." He put his hands over his face.

"Yes, Cally. Thank you for your help. Have a good night." She patted his head and popped away.

"She calls you E?" He laughs.

"She has called me that since I was a child. She thought it would help me to spell better. She is silly like that. That must be some poker game." He leans closer to me and almost whispers.

"I have heard them whispering about how dilapidated, leaky and dirty the Chamber of Secrets is. The Hogwarts elves already lost to them last week. They are very cut throat about their cleaning." I howl laughing and dig into my food. I am having a great time.

"I am enjoying myself, Evan. So long as you are not a criminal, I do not see a problem with our continued dating and maybe I am open to a courtship."

He kisses my hand again. Corey said I needed to explore being a woman and that having a man would not make me weak. I look into his light brown eyes and think maybe. He uses his wand and music plays.

"Dance with me, My Amelia." I get another shiver and I stand to let him take me into his arms. We dance and I listen to the sultry song that must be sung by a muggle. I like it and it has a simple message. 'Come and Talk to Me'.

The song ends and we separate, but not before he kisses me. It is a gentle kiss, but it has sparks to it anyway. Wow. We sit and finish our meal in companionable silence but I notice that Evan is holding my hand. When our meal is finished, we walk towards the mansion which is very impressive. I love the terraces that I see on the second floor.

"Amelia, thank you for coming to meet me. I could have been a murderer or something. I know that you are the Minister and I do not wish to influence that or to hold you back. I just want to spend time with you and to explore a relationship. Will you give me that chance?"

He is saying all of the right things. The mushy girl inside me is chanting yes and just this once, I ignore the stuffy rule abiding shrew that usually makes all of my choices. She does dress better these days.

"Yes, Evan. Now, point me to the dessert and show me how to play this game. The winner is in control of the next date."

I walk past him because his elf Cally is waving me into the parlor. He catches up with me and takes my hand as I sit on a small sofa where the desserts are already cut and coffee is poured. I loved his elves.

"A second date, Lia?" He has given me a nickname? I sigh inwardly. Corvus was going to want details.

"Yes, Evan. Now leave me and this cake alone for a few minutes. It is simply divine!"

I have such a splendid time with him that Cally has to threaten to throw me out. She called my house elf Bray which was short for Vertebrae. One of my ancestors has a dry sense of humor. She told Brae to take me home because it was past midnight.

The elves were strict. They both stood by while we exchanged mobile numbers and hugged. Evan kissed me again even when Cally smacked his leg and I giggled and let Brae take me home. I placed the orchid into a vase and sighed. My mobile rang so I answered it already wondering who was in danger this late, but it was Evan's voice I heard.

"You stole from me, Lia." I checked and I had my robe and my wand. The orchid was a gift.

"No I did not, Evan." He chuckled.

"You stole my heart, woman. I have always had a crush on you. Little Miss Authority on everything. Such loyalty and spirit, how could I not help admiring you from afar. Have a pleasant rest and I will call you with details of our next date. Do you mind if it is in public?" I smile at his words.

"No, I do not mind, but I will have to talk to Corvus first and decide how to put the right spin on things. Good luck tomorrow with your meeting. I am sure that Narcissa will be a great business partner. Find out where she gets her hair done! It looked magnificent in the photos in the Daily Prophet." He laughed at me.

"Goodnight, Lia." I smiled.

"Goodnight, Evan and thank you. I had a wonderful time."

Corvus was getting a gift from me. I called Brae to organize it and she agreed to leave it on his desk for me. He would love it! I have no idea what I will do without him for a week, but I had heard him complaining about missing a trip to Disney World. He could loan me someone I am sure for the week, or maybe I would take off that week as well. With that thought, I changed for bed and settled in for some rest. What a day.


	14. Chapter 14

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian.**

 **Rhys POV**

My mobile woke me from a sound sleep. I answered without checking who was calling me or opening my eyes.

"What?"

Didn't these people know that we played truth or dare last night with firewhisky? I cannot believe Drake used to have a pet bunny! It is still funny. He really cannot stand Parkinson, even after all of the spells were lifted from her. He said she was a bit loose and left it at that.

Fred and George must know legilmency! How else did they guess that I may have metamorph skills? I had to do a dare to avoid them spilling that little tidbit. I am glad that they went home after our brainstorming session. I hope that Sirius used our suggestions.

Why was Sebastian yelling in my ear?

"You are needed here at once! Black is driving me crazy and I am not equipped to deal with him. He has turned into a dog and he refuses to come out of his room. Even Jewel is having a problem with him. Have your elf bring you over here! My next step is to use him for potions ingredients." He hung up.

I snapped my fingers and begged Winky, who showed up instead of Socks for a hangover cure. She tsked at me and said that Socks was in negotiations and that he would be with me soon. Whatever.

I wrote Lu a note and got dressed. What time is it anyhow? I did a tempus spell. It was only 6am. That is not even fair. It is the summer! I wrote a note to Drake and another one to Nev. Between the three of them, they should be okay until I return.

Socks came back looking gleeful. I did not ask about what I know will be a wild story. Instead, I asked Socks to pop me over to Sirius' house and he took me to the hallway outside of Sirius's room. Sebastian was pacing and Nymphie was knocking and begging Sirius to open the door.

"What is wrong with him, Sebastian, sir?" He glared at me.

"I do not know, I am just tired of the howling and I cannot break his wards. Jewel said to call you first before she would let us inside." Oh, that is what that noise is. Why does Jewel hate me? I sighed and opened the door. Being his heir had perks.

Sirius was on the bed in his animagus form howling and rolling around. He looked pitiful. I noticed a letter on the floor and I picked it up. It read:

' _Dear Big Brother, Please do not panic. I am not dead. I was in a magical coma. I have been traveling. I am glad that you have your freedom. I would love for us to meet again and to bury the hatchet. I no longer have the dark mark. Please consider it, Siri. I miss you and I am ever so sorry for our fights over the years. You were mostly right. Please write me back and send it with Jewel and she will get it to the house elf I am using. Also, tell Severus that he looks good. I will not rat him out, Slytherin's honor. Love always, Reggie. Tojours Pur_.'

Wow. His brother is alive and no longer a death eater! Awesome. I look at the pathetic dog still having a pity party on the bed. He howls again. I rub my face. It is way too early for this. I wish that I could change into my raven form (no wonder Romeo liked me so much) and peck him. I still had a lot of meditating and learning to do.

"Sirius, change back and talk to me right now!" He jumps and changes to himself and flops back on the bed. He stares at the ceiling which he has enchanted to look like a forest scene with the animals running around and everything.

I lie next to him. "Shouldn't you be happy about this, Padfoot?" He covered his eyes.

"I don't know! I thought Remus was like a brother to me and he cannot be trusted and now my brother can be trusted. The world is all mixed up, Pup! What should I do? And he knows about Snivellous! Dammit, I cannot call him Snivellous anymore! I hate that!" Sebastian comes into the room because I did not close it and takes the note from me.

"I hated when you called me that Merlin damned name anyway. Black, calm yourself! It will be good to see Regulus again. We need another Slytherin around here. Do you require a potion?" Sirius shook his head morosely. I could understand that he did not want to be let down again. There is no chance I will even forgive Bushy and the Mo-Ron. Nymphie said she was going back to bed.

To cheer him up, I gave Sirius a new tee shirt that said "I got 99 problems but a witch ain't one". He laughed and raced to the bathroom to change.

"I see that your tee shirt company is proving to be quite the fruitful endeavor, Mister Lexington."

I look up at Sebastian and he is impeccably dressed as always. He is picking invisible lent off of the sleeve of his button down dark blue shirt and looking all haughty. I know Sebastian. He only gets all big wordy when he is miffed. I sigh and hand him his tee shirt. It says 'I can Bewitch the Mind and Ensnare the Senses'. He smiled at me and nodded.

"This is quite humorous." I smiled.

"I like mine better." It says 'Abracadabra' He just laughed at me.

"So, who is your letter from, Rhys?" He pointed to the letter that Socks had just brought me.

"I do believe it is from your old boss." He bristled and I opened the letter and read it. What? It slipped from my hands as I passed out.

"Will you wake up you silly boy!" I open my eyes to see Sebastian and Sirius staring at me.

"Are you calm now?" I nod at Sebastian.

"Now, what is in the letter? It is written in parselscript, so we cannot read it." I sigh.

"I cannot believe this!" They jerk away from me as my aura flares. Can this really be happening?

"Just tell us, Pup." I take a deep breath and mumble to them.

"Nope, I do not speak mumble, Pup." I take Sirius' hand.

"I wrote a letter to Voldemort and he decided to go to Gringott's and change his name and to stop killing people and he found out that he is my freaking uncle!" Sebastian howls laughing while Sirius just stares at me.

"So, what is his name now, Pup?" I just stare at the ceiling.

"He says his name is now Marcus Cian Lexington and he is coming to visit with your brother. I have to believe him since I can still freaking speak parseltongue. I was named after him! I am not hugging him. I was all for us being friends, but this is ridiculous!" Sebastian just gives me a bored look.

"Are you quite finished having your tantrum? Don't you see that this is not anyone's fault but Dumbledore's? You were raised as an orphan and so was the Dark Lord. Calm yourself and imagine what he is thinking. He never had a family unless you count his followers. This can be a good thing. Now it is breakfast time and I am sure that you will want to tell your little blonde friend." I look at him alarmed.

"I mean Miss Lovegood, your betrothed, not Draco. Luckily, he spent the night at your manor. He will return for here dinner, so get yourself together."

Sebastian is right and I tell him so. Fine! I hold out my hand to Socks and he gives me a pen and paper. Socks was busy telling me all about his cut throat poker game with some other elves that did not have the right swagger. He said that they compromised on the Chamber and that I had to go down there after school started to open the other tunnels and hidden rooms. Whatever. I tune him out and I write a letter to my new Uncle Marcus and he takes it away. My life is so weird. I turn to Sirius.

"So, do you think that Drake convinced his dad to let us do our idea for next month? If he did it will be so awesome!" Sirius chuckled.

"I hope so, Pup, because it was a brilliant idea. Now, get out of here and go see your little girlfriend. I have a meeting to get to. See you for dinner." I hug him and leave.

 **Sirius POV**

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander. Thank you for seeing me." He just stares at me. We had been drinking mimosas in his back room after he made me a custom wand. It had a dog etched into the handle!

"Just tell me what this money making idea is, Sirius Black and if you prank me, I will curse you." I smile at him and take out a shrunken package and hand it to him.

"What are these?" I grin and hold up the tee shirts.

"Mr. Ollivander, you will add to your sales by selling these tee shirts to every person that comes in for a new wand. Plus, you can sell holsters and wand care kits to the ones that come in and already have a wand. All you have to do is agree to split the profits with the Lily Flower Foundation and sign this contract." He reads the slogans and I chuckle.

 _ **Ravenclaws: It's Always the Quiet Ones**_

 _ **Slytherins: Bad Boys for Life**_

 _ **Gryffindors: Save a Broom, Ride With a Lion**_

"Heh heh. We had to adjust that one a little."

 _ **Hufflepuffs: Our Witches are Loyal..Find out Why**_

 _ **Hogwarts…You don't even go here!**_

"Why are these five different and long sleeved?" I grin.

"Those are the jerseys for the new kickball teams, Garrick." He smiles.

"Clever." I tend to agree.

"Yeah, it will be fun to watch." I show him the rest of them.

 _ **Fortescue's: How Many Licks Does it Take?**_

 _ **Magic: Don't Stop Believing**_

 _ **QQS: I Believe I Can Fly**_

 _ **St. Mungo's: Show Us Where It Hurts**_

 _ **Gringott's: You Can't Touch This**_

 _ **Take a Picture...It will last longer**_

 _ **Muggle in the streets...Wizard in the sheets**_

 _ **I know I look good**_

 _ **No Autographs Please**_

 _ **What's your favorite color?(house color tee shirts)**_

 _ **You have wand envy**_

 _ **I polish my wand every day ask me how**_

 _ **What's the magic word?**_

 _ **My wand is very flexible**_

 _ **Is that a wand in your pocket or are you happy to see me?**_

 _ **Just send up sparks if you need me**_

 _ **Who says the wand chooses the wizard?**_

 _ **The wand chooses the witch!**_

 _ **Ollivander's wand experts since 76 AD-Size Matters**_

 _ **What's in your wand? A lady never tells**_

 _ **You'll shoot your eye out: Get a wand holster to avoid accidents**_

He smirks at me. "Who came up with these slogans?" I smile at him.

"I have a think tank, Mr. Ollivander." It was made up of horny teenaged wizards.

"I think that you should send tee shirts with the houses on them to the Hogwarts heads of houses and to the Minister and her secretary. She will love it."

He nods and agrees with me.

"I am happy to see that you are making something of yourself, Mr. Black. This sounds like a fun venture and it will scandalize people just the way I like. Send me a house elf to help me remodel this place a little." I snap my fingers and Jewel shows up in a nice little white dress and flip flops.

"What is it, Master Sirius? Jewel was having a break with Lettie, Cally, Izzie and Brae. I never takes a break and I always come when you call, Master Sirius. Is this something that you could do yourself?" She taps her foot at me and Mr. Ollivander bends over laughing.

"Forgive us, Miss Jewel. I was wondering if I could have the assistance of some of your friends to remodel my store a little." She blinks and meditates a little and the four elves she named popped in wearing identical dresses to hers but in red, gold, blue and green.

"Mr. Ollie needs our help with his shop." They start doing their thing and I turn back to Mr. Ollivander.

"You're welcome." He laughs again.

"I miss my elf, Shelly, but she died last year. I do need a replacement. Maybe you know of an elf that needs more work?" There are five gasps behind me and I grin.

"Mr. Ollie, you can just use this list." They hand him a long list of names.

"You call the next elf in the line and they will help you. This is the list of elves that need extra work. Make a copy for Madam Malkin, too, sir." He does that and they take it to her with a note he wrote. They crack me up.

He signs the contract and together we create a display for the tee shirts. I left whistling. Today was a good day and my Pup was a genius. We had these shirts here and at the robe shop. I just hope that dinner tonight would be a success.

 **Hermione POV**

I have been studying nonstop for four years, so a trip to Italy with my parents was a nice break and it would give me the chance to learn about another culture. I convinced my parents to take me to the wizarding shopping district and there were so many shops! I also noticed that the witches and wizards my age dressed like normal teenagers.

I was just going into one of the four bookstores when I was jostled by a group of witches wearing tight tee shirts that said 'What's Your Favorite Color?'. They were red with gold writing, green with silver writing, blue with gold writing and gold with black writing. The girls were laughing and they barely gave me a glance.

Wasn't that Susan Bones and who was that guy she was holding hands with? I turned back to see a girl with almost white blonde hair standing before me. Her blue tee shirt was paired with a short skirt, but she had an open robe on. She looked me up and down and shook her head. She waved at me and I saw a gorgeous ring on her ring finger. Was she married or something?

"Hello, Hermione Granger. Aren't you hot in that jumper? My you are covered in nargles and wrackspurts. Have fun with the bottomless red sloth!" How did she know my name? Probably because of my friendship with Harry. At least he is good for something. She skipped away. I automatically hated her with her bouncy hair and pretty clothes.

What the hell was she talking about? I was about to follow after her when I saw Draco Malfoy walking with two other boys and he was talking on a mobile phone! I rushed up to him and stood there tapping my foot. He ended his call and faced me. He was wearing a ring, too!

"Oh, hello, Granger. Imagine seeing you here in Italy. You seem agitated. Is there a problem, Granger?" He seemed almost pleasant and his clothes were trendy and sporty. He was wearing a tee shirt that said 'Shake a Tailfeather'. I opened my mouth to answer him when his phone rang. He held up a finger to me and answered it.

"Hello, Mother. Yes, I will be there. Dress is casual. No, you do not need to bring anything. Yes, I am sure. Great! I am glad you agreed to do it. Lex will be thrilled to have someone like you as a part of the event. See you in about an hour. Love you, too."

He grinned and winked at his friends. Was that Anthony Goldstein? Malfoy took the books out of his hands and put them back into his bag and shrunk it. Anthony sighed and nodded. Their other friend laughed.

"I apologize, Granger. Did you need something?" He is smiling.

"Malfoy, where did you get a mobile phone? How did you get them to work around magic? Why are you being nice? Who are your friends? What is that ring for? How can you do magic outside of school? Isn't your father a death eater?" He chuckled and held out his hand to his friend who paid him one galleon.

"Granger, my father is not a death eater. I will thank you kindly to stop spreading that rumor. I am using the surname Black at the moment. I bought my phone from a new company that just started. Mobiles can work around magic as can electricity. How else would you explain that all of central London remains intact with Diagon Alley and the Ministry and St. Mungo's right there? The muggles would have dead zones if that drivel were true." His friends smiled and nodded at me like I was an idiot.

"I am being polite because I was raised to be polite. My ring symbolizes my betrothal. I have a contract with a wonderful witch!" The guys chuckle at him.

"I thought you knew Anthony Goldstein. He is from Ravenclaw house. This is my good friend Lex. He will be attending Hogwarts in the fall as a transfer student. No one can tell who does magic in areas like this or at a well warded home. Didn't you know that? I think that is all of your questions. Anyway, I must be going. Have a good evening."

He bowed to me and the other two nodded. They steered Anthony away from the books and I noticed that they met up with Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott and they all laughed and exchanged galleons again and walked on to meet the girls. They all partnered with a girl and took their shopping from them, just like gentlemen.

Was he right? I could do magic if we had wards? I could do magic in Diagon Alley? I never wondered how the electricity around Diagon Alley kept working. That meant Hogwarts: A History lied? This was not possible?! I had to research this! And a new student? He was handsome, too. Why was Malfoy friends with a muggleborn? What was happening? Did the Headmaster know about this? I should write him a letter! Was he really betrothed?! Malfoy, or Black, whatever never told me where to get a mobile! Dammit!

 **Rhys POV**

We laughed all the way to our rooms. We were just dropping off our shopping. I was stalling. I could have had Socks drop off my things. I am nervous. Could I do this? Family with the Dark Lord?! Arggh! Sirius thought it was hilarious and so did Sebastian. I was pacing. What was I going to say to him? In my pacing, I ran into Lu. She grabbed the front of my shirt and kissed me.

"Now, the wrackspurts are gone. Let's get going, Rhys and you will be nice or else!" I took a deep breath and let it out. Fine.

At Sirius' house, where Drake and his family were assembled in the family room, I waited in the foyer with Sirius and Sebastian. There was a whoosh and three men stepped out of the floo. I noticed which one was Regulus, because he looked like Sirius. I checked the other two men and one had a goofy smile on his face and a tee shirt that actually said 'Speak Now or Forever Hold my Piece'. I bent over laughing.

"Nice shirt. I am Rhys Lexington." He smiled and said, "Jeffrey Jones. You can call me Jay." I liked him immediately. Jay walked over to Sebastian and they shook hands and laughed. That left me with my so called uncle. If I was being honest, he did look like me.

I approached him and he held out a box, which I took. Inside was a beautiful black python. It blinked at me and said, "Are you the one I am to impress?" I smiled and told the snake that I thought she was beautiful. "What's your name, pretty?" The snake slithered onto my neck and fucking bit me! I sighed. What is with these animals bonding with me?

"My name is Ebony. I will become a tattoo now because I am sleepy." She became a tattoo on my shoulder and I sighed. Now I have two bonded familiars. I hope this is not an epidemic.

"Welcome, Uncle. Thank you for my gift. You are looking well. I see you wore the tee shirt I got you." He stepped forward and hugged me. It was not horrible and I liked his cologne. I had to steal that from him.

"Thank you, Rhys. Introduce me to our host so that we can join the other guests." He was still as bossy as ever. I led him over to Sirius and pried Regulus off of him.

"Sirius, this is my uncle, Marcus Lexington. Uncle, this is Sirius Black." Sirius looked at him for three seconds before he attacked him. They fell onto the floor in a tangle of limbs and rolled around. I sighed and called Jewel. She popped in and separated them.

"Master Sirius, you is behaving badly! You will apologize right now! You know the wards would not let him inside if he meant you harm!" Sirius just glared at Marcus.

"It is fine. I think that I deserved that and maybe some pranking in the future. I can only state that I was severely out of my mind and I do regret my actions. I brought you a gift, Lord Black."

He snapped his fingers and his elf showed up with a puppy that looked like Sirius's animagus form. Sirius stared at the puppy with disdain, and then he cracked and snatched it and rocked it.

"I will call you Blackie. You are just the cutest thing! You like me, don't you! Look at my little Blackie!" I turned to my new uncle.

"I think that was a well thought out gift." He smiled and used his wand to fix his appearance.

"I listened to my elf, Boa. Are you going to punch me, too?" I sighed. Nope. We should punch Dumbledore though.

"No, I really do understand what happened. Let's just agree not to bring it up and focus on our mutual pest." He was smart. He could think of some tame torture for the twinkly eyed goat fucker. I need to calm down.

"Would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow? There are these delightful restaurants called McDonald's and I hear they have a conflict with Burger King. I have not been there yet, but I hear good things about this Whopper. What do you think? You can bring your little friends with you if you want." He was inching closer to me. Suddenly, he attacked me in a hug. What was it with Slytherins hugging me?

When I could breathe, because he was worse than Molly Weasley with the hugging, I smiled at him. "Yes, Uncle. I would like to have lunch with you tomorrow. How about we try this place called Pizza Hut?" I continued to smile at him.

"That sounds wonderful, Rhys. You really are a handsome young man. Let us join the rest of the group. Severus looks amazing."

I agreed with him and led the way. He smiled in relief and followed me into the parlor.

Drake made a beeline for me and whispered to me. "Lex, that man is the freaking Dark Lord! Father says he wrote to him and that he had lunch with him! Did Sirius really deck him? You know he is el senor loco. I think as children, we should not be here. Grab your girl and let's leave." I smiled at him and stopped him from pulling me out of the room.

"Drake, he is not the dark lord anymore and he just found out that he was my uncle. Calm down. Now, he is smart. We can pick his brain for more ideas for next month. Won't it be awesome if we convince him to come with us?" He howls laughing.

"Lex, if you convince him to accompany us to introduce the new muggleborns to the wizarding world on the Muggleborn Party Bus, I will bow down to you in front of the whole school." I smile a devious smile. That sounded like a wonderful idea. The Silver Prince bowing down to me.

"Challenge accepted, Drake. Now let's eat. Your mom and dad look happy together." He glanced their way.

"Yup. I might be able to get a brother or sister out of this. I wonder when they will remarry?" They did look cozy.

I looked around the room. Sebastian and Jeffrey were talking, Lucius was holding hands with Narcissa and whispering in her ear, Nymphie was letting Lu do her hair and Sirius and Marcus were changing Regulus' hair colors without him noticing. All in all, it was not a horrible evening. I wonder if I should tell Neville? He knew who I used to be, but not about the dark lord and Drake knew about the dark lord but not about who I used to be. Arggh! That was a headache for another day.

 **Sirius POV**

"So, Marcus, will you claim your Wizengamot seats?" I could play good host. Sebastian was smirking at me.

"Yes, Lord Black, I will do that at the meeting on August 15th." He is a little stuffy towards me. I pet my puppy and feed it some more beef. Hestia smiles at me and kisses my cheek. I can behave.

He turns to Rhys. "I understand that congratulations are in order for your betrothal. Here is a gift for your Miss Lovegood." Luna jumps up and grabs the envelope and opens it. Then she shrieks and hugs the dark lord. Fine, his name is Marcus.

"These are tickets to see the Lion King in New York City! Thank you!" Was he trying to one up me? I got them those mirror pendants!

Rhys smiles and shakes Marcus' hand. "Thank you. Lu loves animals and an animal themed play with singing is perfect for her." Marcus looks smug.

"I may have also gotten the two of you lion cubs. They are to stay with their parents until they are weaned but here is the picture." I hate this guy and I want to hex him. I look at Reggie and he is grinning from ear to ear.

"Nice one, Marcus!" The brown noser. Sebastian clears his throat.

"So, have you any thoughts on courting someone yourself, Marcus?" The guy pales. Ha! Take that! I give a head nod to Sebastian.

"The reason that I ask is that there is a wonderful witch I know that would be just perfect for you. Lorelai Eastchurch was a Ravenclaw and she has a niece named Felicity that attends Hogwarts now as a fifth year. I have been in contact with her. Do you want her contact information?" I watched as Marcus took a deep breath and then he called his house elf and talked to him in whispers. The elf disappeared and he faced us again looking more composed.

"Yes, Sebastian, I would like her information. Thank you for recommending her to me." He took a drink of his wine.

I kind of felt sorry for the guy, but he really needed to loosen up. I took a drink from my own wine and suddenly squawked. I was a fucking chicken! I looked at Marcus and he winked at me and poured the antidote into my drink. I drank it and changed back to raucous laughter. He pranked me! I changed his hair red and gold and Reggie fell out of his chair laughing.

"Touche', Lord Black." I sighed.

"Call me Sirius, Marcus. I hate that Lord Black stuff unless it is to irk Sebastian or something." He grinned and he did not look evil. Okay, I could learn to like the guy.

Dinner ended with the kids promising to meet Marcus, Reggie and Jay at Pizza Hut tomorrow for a pizza party. I could not go as I had plans with Hestia. I received promises that they would behave and that they would be discussing the muggleborn party bus idea with him. Reggie hugged me and I told him he was welcome whenever. He made me promise that we could hang out on Thursday nights, just the two of us like we used to before Hogwarts. I nodded and they left.

"Well, Black, you survived. Now sign this contract." What? I read the marriage contract and it was generous and he wanted the second child to bear the Prince name. I could live with that. Andie and Ted had already given their blessing. I signed it and it glowed and duplicated.

"Who was your witness, Sebastian?" He pointed out Lucy's signature. Even his signature was girly. The peacock having blonde prima donna with a cool pimp cane. I want one, but it will look like I am copying him if I get it. I smile and hand the contract to Jewel.

"Congrats, man! Nymphie is great." He nods and actually smiles and walks away to exchange rings with her. Now he will be family. I may start to need therapy after this. I know what I need! I change into my Padfoot form and me and Blackie race to the gardens to have some fun. I love this puppy!


	15. Chapter 15

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused.**

 **I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian. This is a long chapter and I already have the next one written. Sorry about the delay.**

* * *

 **Sebastian POV**

I think that I should move out of here. I mean really, I do not ask for much, but surely this blasted mutt could afford me a quiet morning at least once! If it is not the howling, then it is the music! He was currently playing "Give it to me" by a muggle named Jay Z. I will give Rhys permanent purple hair for giving Sirius hip hop music.

I knocked on the door and then I banged on the door. I called Jewel and she popped in dancing along to the music wearing a little tee shirt and a skirt. Her shirt said "D.I.Y." I do not even want to know.

"Jewel, would you please tell Sirius that either he needs a silencing spell or he needs to turn off that music." She nodded and popped away. She came back and there was no change.

"He is saying that he wants you to come inside, Master Sebastian." I sigh and go inside of the room to find Sirius dancing in front of his large mirror in his boxers that have dancing lips on them. I could have lived my whole life without seeing that.

"Yes, Black, what is it?" He turned around and so did his puppy. It was a cute little dog.

"Snivellous—" I send a hex at him and he ducks.

"Sorry. Sebastian, I have to sign my marriage contract with Hestia's parents today and I do not know what to wear. Jewel said I should be all Lord Blackish, but I want to show them that I am fun, too. We have a brunch in three hours. I am nervous. Help me!" He said all of that really quickly. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Black, you need to be Lord Black, but maybe after brunch, you can invite them over here to play mini golf with you or to ride on your go karts or something. Just follow decorum and no pranks until after they are already here."

There, he should be able to follow those directions. I turn to leave while lowering the volume on his boom box and he grabs my arm.

"You have to come with me! I need a witness anyway! Please! I will do anything!" He just said the wrong thing to a Slytherin. I turned back to him and smiled.

"Will you host my wedding at the Magical Disney World Castle? Nymphadora wants to be a princess." He stared at me and blinked and then he laughed.

"You want to have a dress up wedding, Sebastian? That sounds great and the kids are all going the week before Lucy's wedding! We will have a ball! Sure, I will pay, no problem."

I grinned. It was not really about paying for the wedding, it was about dealing with the wedding planner. She was a harridan and I could not stand her.

"Fine, I will allow Ms. Poppins to have your number. I shall leave you to your preparations." He smiled gratefully at me. The poor clueless Gryffindor. He was no match for a Slytherin like me.

 **Dumbledore POV**

I had called another meeting to discuss the letter that I had received from Miss Granger. I also needed an update on Harry Potter. Minerva had told me that she was taking a vacation for the rest of the summer and Poppy and Irma had left with her. They assured me that they had things handled and my elf Sparkle had given me some hot chocolate and said that the elves had things under control. That had relaxed me.

I was not as concerned about things at Hogwarts as I am about Voldemort. Why has he not made a move yet? I fully expected him to do some damage by now, but so far, all was quiet. He was not being the proper villain. Without him whipping people into a frenzy, no one would care that Harry Potter was no longer attending Hogwarts.

Today's Daily Prophet was not promising, either. When I find out who is doing a book on me, I will curse them back to the middle ages. The nerve of that upstart publisher at the Pixie Press. They had smiled politely and said that the book was being written under a pen name and that they could not tell me who Rigel Grim was. They said that they all took oaths to keep his identity a secret. I had tried to use legilmency on him and he had just blinked at me and I got a serious headache.

Anyway, I was ready to have one of Molly's delicious meals. She was a good cook, even if I had to watch Ronald eat with his mouth open. It was a truly disgusting sight to behold. Molly was still beside herself because her twin sons refused to speak to her and today's Quibbler had a full color picture of the Minister for Magic and she had given an interview.

She spoke of changes in the Ministry and hiring people based on their abilities and then she talked about how her niece was betrothed to Neville Longbottom. Why did they not consult me? Amelia was going to ruin years of traditions with her new policies and I would tell her so when I met with her this week.

The second page showed Fred and George Prewett were opening a joke shop in Diagon Alley that would be run by people they hired and their house elves. It was called Prewett's Pranking Paradise and the grand opening was in a week. Instead of giving credit to their parents that raised them, in their interview they mention that their friend Harry Potter helped them along with their pranking idol, Sirius Black.

Why can't those boys realize that they should not open their shop yet for the greater good? I had sent them a letter stating just that and I received a package of muggle candies from them. I just love these jaw breakers. They are sweet and tart and it is taking me quite a long time to eat one! They last so much longer than lemon drops.

"As we are finished eating, I am calling this meeting of the Order to order. Now I received a letter from Miss Granger, who is in Italy with her parents. She said that there are devices called mobiles that work in the magical world and are like portable floos. Has anyone heard of these?" No one says anything, but I saw Kingsley twitch.

"Kingsley, do you know what these are?" He takes a deep breath.

"Yes, Albus, I know what they are and I have one." He flashes a small device at us.

"These are ingenious and they are more private than a Patronus messenger spell. All of the aurors now have one." What?

"How can Muggle devices work around magic?" I had made sure that they could not work at Hogwarts.

"Albus, there is a new company called the Lily Flower Foundation and they sell them." This was not a good thing. I must put a stop to this. Why was no one listening to me?

"Also, there are many betrothal contracts being enacted. Quite a few of them are with children from different houses." I hate this! I like having the children separate and at each others' throats! This would make them harder to control.

"Yes, I saw that Draco Black was betrothed, also young Luna Lovegood is betrothed as well, Albus." What? Who would want to marry that little fairy brain?

"Has anyone heard from Harry Potter?" Once again Kingsley held up his hand.

"Yes, Kingsley?" He smiled a big smile at me.

"Harry sent us dragonhide armor at the Auror department. He said that since his dad was an auror, he felt that he was making a good donation. It was very well received. There was an article in the Prophet about it. He made the donation through the Lily Flower Foundation. He said that he started it with his godfather to honor his mother. He sent the statement through the goblins. What a nice kid."

How could this be happening?

"Do you mean that Harry Potter's company makes those little devices?" Kingsley nods and giggles a little. What was so funny?

"Um, Headmaster?" I look at Hagrid.

"Yes, Hagrid?" He smiles.

"You are changing colors. You were blue, then red, then, yellow, then orange and now you are purple." He laughed.

"What?"

All of them started laughing as well. At me. This would not stand! I conjured a mirror and it was true! I am purple. Could this be what those candies meant when they said that I should taste the rainbow? Those boys pranked me! I am getting no respect these days! I closed the Order meeting and left. I miss Severus.

 **Marcus POV**

Boa suggested that I wear another tee shirt and these denims and boots. My shirt says "I can read your mind and I like what you are thinking." This seems like I am exposing magic, but anyway. I have Regulus who asked me to call him Reggie and Jeffrey who wants to be called Jay with me. They had better not call me Markie. I will hex them.

It has been so long since I crucioed someone. I think I am having withdrawal symptoms and Boa has not helped. He made me run like a muggle this morning again and I got all sweaty. It was most unseemly. He gave me a potion and sent me to the steam room that he and Scales created for me and I must admit, I feel a lot better.

There was a loud noise and I looked up to see that my nephew and his cohorts have arrived. Good. It was not easy saving these tables. I had to use notice-me-not charms and a lot of glaring. The food does smell appealing.

"Hey there, Uncle Marcus. Nice shirt!" I smiled at Rhys. His shirt was red with flames and it said "Hot in Here" He was also wearing a cap on his head. Should I get one of those? The children sat down and Rhys and Draconis sat near me. They took care of ordering and we had our drinks delivered quickly. These liquid sprites are delicious and so fizzy.

He leans forward. "So, Uncle, how would you like to influence the new muggleborns to your way of thinking?" That does sound promising. I smiled at him. Maybe we are more alike than I thought.

"Yes, Rhys. I would like that very much." I could see the similarities between us. We look alike and we can talk to snakes. He has followers too! And now he has a plot to enslave all of the muggleborns. I am so proud.

"Great! We are all chosen to be their guides in Diagon Alley and mentors during school. We have something called the Muggleborn Party Bus. We figure it will be easier to ride around on a big tour bus like the Knight Bus and you and Lucius and Sirius and Nymphie and Narcissa can handle the parents and all of their questions and concerns and we can talk to the kids. We have potions that they will receive with their letters and they have compulsions on them so that they will drink them. It will prevent them from telling anyone about the magical world and they are also their medical potions." These are all good ideas.

"The next day, we will pick them up and then while we are on the bus, you guys can answer their questions and Sirius is doing a power point show which is like a movie to show them what Hogwarts looks like and all of that. We will have refreshments and then we will go to Gringott's for their heritage tests and shopping in Diagon Alley and the next day is the cookout at my manor, which they will all get a portkey for. What do you think? Do you want to work with us and participate in this? Dumbles will hate it." Damn. He is brilliant and that twinkly eyed old goat would hate it.

"Yes. Shall I call Sirius to make arrangements? When is this taking place?" He grins and the pizza is delivered. It smells delicious and everyone gets a slice on their plates. I taste it and I love this more than the burgers at McDonald's. I chew my food and look around the restaurant. I still need ideas for my date with Miss Eastchurch. Lorelai is a nice name.

"It is on August the first for the bus and the cookout is on the second, Uncle. I am glad that you are coming." He winks at Draconis who hands him a galleon. He hands it back.

"Nope. You know what I want, Drake." Draconis grudgingly smiled and nodded.

"Okay, I will let you and Reggie and Jay enjoy your food. We are going to a movie. I know that you have a date tonight. Have fun!" I smile and we hug and he and his motley crew leave. What was I going to do tonight? The waitress leaves me with the bill and I get the right amount out of my wallet. I am getting good at this.

"Come on, Jay and Reggie. We need to go and see Lucius. He has a nice assistant. Maybe they can help me with ideas for my date." They smile and follow me. They must be full. I get that way when I eat too much. They will be asleep soon. Boa called it the "Itis". Whatever that meant. We found an alley and apparated to Lucius' home in France. He had to have some good ideas for me. He was getting married again after all.

 **Lucius POV**

I finished my mobile call with Fred and George Prewett. They accepted me as an investor in their business. I had to sign off on the contract when I received it. I had Penny send a poem I wrote with a chocolate milkshake to Cissy. She loves chocolate milkshakes. Penny said that it is the little things that women appreciate and that all presents do not have to be expensive.

We are going to watch a muggle movie later called Titanic. Penny said it would make Cissy cry. Why does she want her to cry, I do not know, but she gave me the device and showed me how to work it. She said I could call her if I got stuck, but I think I have it. There was a pop and Jasmine was before me wearing a white and silver dress and an apron.

"You have company, Master Lucy. It is being Jeffrey Jones, Regulus Black and Marcus Lexington. They said they need to talk to you." I nod at her and ignore that she calls me Lucy. They come into the room and Jeffrey and Regulus sprawl out on the sofas like they are going to take a nap. Marcus smiles and sits in an armchair next to me.

"Thank you for allowing us to come and visit you, Lucius. I know I could have called, but I have this date tonight with Lorelai Eastchurch and I do not know what to do. I thought that maybe you would have a suggestion." Wow. He never used to admit to not knowing something.

"What about taking her to a carnival or a play or the muggle cinema, Marcus? Did you get her a gift yet?" I watched him grow pale and I took pity on him.

"Relax, Marcus. There are these wonderful bracelets and I bought two for Cissy, but Penny told me that it was overkill. Here, give her this bracelet. You can add charms to it as you continue to court her. It is not being cheap, but sentimental." He closed his mouth.

"I do not know about this carnival idea, Lucius. Would it be wrong to take Regulus and Jay with me?" I sighed.

"Marcus, you cannot take them on a date with you. Why don't you ask your elf to come but to stay hidden in case of danger? What about the muggle cinema? You do not have to talk much and you sit next to her the whole time and hold hands."

He shook his head and I called Penny on her mobile phone. She suggested going to a dance club and that way if Regulus and Jay got dates, then they could go as well. I told her that it would not be a good idea for a first date. She said to send him to a muggle place called a dinner cruise. They could eat and dance and the date was a cruise and it would be over in a few hours.

I told her she was very good at her job and ended the call. I explained it to Marcus and he seemed very excited. Good. I have seen him when he was mad. Jasmine popped in and asked if my friends were staying overnight. I looked at Regulus and Jeffrey. I think that maybe they are.

"Tag, you are it, Lucius. This way, they will not come on my date. Thank you for the advice. I need to leave to get ready. Can I use your floo?"

I smiled and nodded and he left swiftly. Cissy sent me a text message that I was very sweet and that she missed me. I love this mobile phone. I felt badly for my owls, but there were still many who used owls, so it would be fine for a while and they were still good to deliver packages. I asked Jasmine to send the guys to a guest room and I left to get my media room ready for my date with Cissy.

Three hours later, I was ready to curse myself. Regulus and Jay were blubbering and yelling at the screen. Cissy had insisted that they watch the film with us. It was interesting and I could tell that the girl would not want to remain with her fiancé. He did not treat her well.

This movie was sad and romantic. People were dying and poor Rose and Jack were in the frozen waters. The poor muggles. I watched Cissy cry and handed her another handkerchief and a glass of iced tea. Jasmine got just the right amount of lemon into her brews. Cissy was clinging to my hand. My guests were crying as well.

"It's so saaad! They look like inferi!" This from Regulus.

"Why can't they have potions or something?" This was from Jay.

I am so glad that they do not know about Marcus going on a dinner cruise for his date. They would be relentless. The movie ended and I did not see that coming. I walked Jay and and Regulus to the floo.

They were reaching for the floo powder when Regulus' mobile rang. He answered it and then he grew distressed. He ended the call and glared at me. He yelled at me and threatened to hex my hair off and he and Jay left. Cissy hugged me in commiseration. How was I to know that the former dark lord could not swim? Who knew he would fall off the boat?

"The poor guy. It must not have gone well if he tried to drown himself." Cissy smacked me.

"Lucius, stop being morbid. He said that Marcus slipped and fell when they were dancing and they both fell overboard. Now, I got your guest list. Are you sure you want to do this on August 31st?" I smiled and kissed her.

"Yes, darling. I do not want to wait any longer." She beamed at me and we kissed and much more until she pulled away panting.

"Lucius, soon. Let's wait until after our wedding." She was trying to kill me. I sighed.

"Okay, love. I will wait." I escort her to the floo and she leaves. I get a call from Marcus and he thanked me for the dating idea and said that his date, Lorelai could swim and she saved his life by kissing him over and over again. I laughed. He was so silly. I told him to take his potions and that he should learn to swim. He said that was the other thing. His date offered to show him to swim in his pool and she said he needed a swimsuit. He was very excited. Good for him.

We ended the call and I went to bed. I have a meeting with Rhys and Draco tomorrow to talk about their bus. They were so thrilled that Marcus agreed. I just liked that it would irk Dumbledore. I do not like that man and he had spells on the children! He was going down. I would not use pranks, either. I cannot wait for the Wizengamot meeting on the 15th!


	16. Chapter 16

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused.**

 **I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading and for your comments.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian. This is a long chapter and I already have the next one written. Sorry about the delay.**

* * *

 **Colin Creevy POV**

I was sitting down to breakfast with Dennis and thinking about my last movie date with Donna Atwater from Hufflepuff when there was a pop and a nicely dressed house elf was standing there.

"Hello, Mr. Creevy sirs. I am Socks. I have a letter here from the Great Harry Potter."

Wow! Harry wrote me a letter! I took the letter and read it and I could not believe it! Harry recommended me for a job working on a new project for muggleborns! I signed my name to the oath of secrecy and then I made Dennis sign it, too.

"Thank you for accepting the job. Please take these potions, Mr. Creevy sirs." He gave us potions and I felt so much better after I took mine. Wow. I do not feel so jumpy anymore. What a relief!

"Here is your new camera, your portkey, your mobile phone and your itinerary. You has to go to the places on the list to take pictures of the professors and important people. Touch your wand to their name and you will pop to their location. Be careful and be polite. When you are finished, just call for Socks. You are being paid 15G per picture and the money will go into your Gringott's vault." What?

"Um, Socks, I do not have a Gringott's vault."

"Yes you do, Mr. Creevy. Mr. Harry Potter sent money to a vault for you because of the basilisk that he killed." Wow, Harry thought about me!

He handed me another form and I signed it and Dennis signed one, too. They flashed and keys showed up on the table. I took mine and added it to my key ring and Dennis put his on his chain.

"What do you want me to do, Socks?" Dennis was curious.

"You will ask questions and write down the answers. What did you want to know about your professors before school started? Always wear the portkey chains. They are for safety and give your parents theirs. Have fun and try to be finished today. Here are two tee shirts. Harry Potter thanks youse." He popped away.

"Wow, Colin. This is amazing! Let's change and tell mom and dad." I looked at my tee shirt and it said "Say Cheese" and Dennis had one that said "Bros before Hos". That was funny. Mom said that as long as we were careful, she did not mind us going. We took our letters and equipment and flashed to meet our head of house.

We landed in a nice garden and Professor McGonagall, Madame Pince and Madam Pomfrey were sitting there eating and laughing.

"Misters Creevy! What are ye doing here?" I smiled and summoned my Gryffindor courage.

"We have been hired by Harry Potter to help the muggleborns and we are putting together a welcome booklet about the teachers! May we take your photos and ask you each one question?" They looked at each other and smiled.

"Okay, go ahead, but make it quick. We have a line dancing class in a few minutes."

Wow, Madam Pomfrey does line dancing? We nod and they pose for my pictures while Dennis asks them their favorite colors and if they have pets. We bow to them and portkey away. This is going to be so great!

 **Sirius POV**

I storm down to the dungeon and bang on the door. I see that he has to the red light on, so that means that the delicate genius is at a crucial stage. I bang on the door anyway because I cannot believe the letter I just received.

A letter! Minnie knows that she could call me, and to think, I was going to get her an mp3 player thingie for her classroom! The door opens a crack and there is former Snivellous staring at me like I am an insect.

"Black I informed you that I would be experimenting with basilisk venom earlier. Why must you insist upon bothering me? If you need someone to play with, then call your brother. I am busy. If this is to complain about that pushy Poppins woman, than too bad."

I love Mary! I would not ask Mr. Cauldron to play with me anyway!

"Prince, why did you recommend me to Minerva as a transfigurations teacher?" He smirks at me.

"I did not recommend you to her as I have not even spoken with her since I left Hogwarts. Do you even think, Black?" That is true. Somebody set me up, though.

"The idea does have merit, though. Minerva takes on too much. You will be bored anyway and the children are coming along quite proficiently with the dueling lessons you have taught them. I too, have found my inner animal thanks to your blatherings. It must mean something."

I am not enthused. He pulls out the big guns on me.

"Think of the opportunities you will have to spend time with Draco, Rhys and the Prewett twins. You can prank Albus. Oh, good. You finally see the positive points. Now go and send your books to Pixie Publishing so they will be ready for school shopping. The letters go out next week."

I smile an evil Grinch smile. I love that movie! "Thanks, Prince. Sorry to have bothered you." Just then, two kids pop in next to us.

"Black, what in the blazes is going on? Did you kidnap these children?!" Nope.

"Sorry, sirs. We are looking for Professors Prince and Black. I am Colin and this is my brother Dennis. We are doing the welcome booklet for the new muggleborns." Oh, goody!

I strike a pose. "Go ahead, boys. Get my good side." They laugh and take my picture as I change into Padfoot.

"Wow! That is awesome, sir!" I love having fans.

"Do you really want to take a picture of Senor Grumpy over there?"

They smile hopefully at Prince and he sighs and lets them into the potions lab. It looks amazing in there. Not like a dungeon at all! Wow. I reach out to touch some cool vials and he smacks my hand.

"No touching, Black."

The kids giggle again. He poses behind some cauldrons and he would look all imposing if he was not wearing a tee shirt that said "Batman" on it. Rhys loved giving him tee shirts.

The kids turned to me. "So, do you have a pet, Professor Black?" I smile and tell them about Blackie and show them a picture of him. They say that he is adorable.

"I do not have a pet yet, but I am getting married soon to Nymphadora Tonks Black, gentlemen. Write that down. She is taken and we have a marriage contract." He is kind of possessive. I give him the raised eyebrow.

"Black, I do not wish to be inundated with fan mail of any sort."

He is crazy. If anyone will receive fan mail it is me. The kids thank us and pop away. I call Jewel and give her my acceptance letter and instructions for sending off my books.

"Master Sirius, you accepted a week ago when Master Rhys made you sign some forms. Read them next time. Your books are sent already. Come and eat a nice brunch with Miss Hestia and leave Master Sebastian alone." She is so bossy. She turns to Prince.

"Master Sebastian is not to skip meals. Your food will be on the table in your kitchenette. Wash your hands before you eat! Jewel has to go now." She popped away. They really do handle me.

 **Amelia Bones POV**

I was thinking about the wonderful date I had with Evan last night. We went to this seafood place in the muggle world where you cracked the crabs at the table and it was okay to make a mess. We had buttered corn on the cob and a delightful drink called pepsi.

Afterwards, we went for a walk and just looked at the stars and talked. It was refreshing and relaxing after a day of Corey's schedule. He is a harsh taskmaster. Today, Albus was on the schedule and I was not in the mood to be condescended to. Corey says that he still does not have a DADA teacher yet. What is he waiting for, Yule?

The door opened and Corey came in with Albus. He looked different. What was he doing with his hair these days? He sat down and glared at Corey. What happened now?

"Miss Ammy, there are two children here to take your picture. They already took the Headmaster's picture. It is for the project from Mr. Malfoy." He gives me a wink. Oh, the muggleborn thing. Great.

"Okay, Corey, send them in." He opens the door and two wide eyed children come inside.

"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Minister. You are on our list and we are doing this as a favor to Harry Potter. He got us a summer job!" They bounce on their feet and I notice that Albus perks up.

They take my picture and ask me what my favorite game is. I tell them all about scrabble and they write that down. Before they could leave, Albus tries to talk to them and them he falls asleep again.

"Is he okay, Minister Bones?" Corey pats them on the head.

"He is getting old, boys. He gets tired easily. Do not write that down. He is trying to keep it hush hush. I like those chains you are wearing. Are they new?" They beam a smile.

"Harry sent them to us! He said they work as portkeys in an emergency and they will keep us safe! He sent ones for our parent's too! Harry is the greatest! He gave me money from the basilisk he killed and now I have a Gringott's vault! I am so sad that he will not be at Hogwarts. We met his godfather today! He can turn into a dog!" They do babble, don't they?

I make a note to call Sirius about registering his animagus form and Corey escorts the boys out of the room. When he comes back, he smiles at me.

"Miss Ammy, Sirius Black registered with the ICW already. It sounds like little Harry Potter is taking care of the people that were petrified. Good for him. Let me just wake up the Headmaster so you can have your meeting. You had a delivery earlier. Are you going roller skating?" I smile at him.

"Yup. This time, the date was my idea and I have always wanted to learn to do this. We are going to a roller rink and I hope that Evan falls more than I do." He laughed an enervated Albus.

"Amelia, where did the Creevy's go?" I shake my head at him.

"Albus, they had to go to their next assignment. Now, have you had any luck hiring a DADA professor?" He frowns at me.

"No, my dear. I am still hoping that you will give me an auror. I like young Shacklebolt." Is he freaking kidding me? I give Corey the raised eyebrow and he nods his head. Good. Shack took his oath and he was just spying on Albus' little Bird club for us.

I sigh. "Albus, I will not release an auror to teach. You will just have to go to HR and get a list of candidates. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?" He bristles at me.

"You are changing things too much, Amelia. We have traditions here and I have received many, many owls from unhappy and unemployed ministry workers. Their families have worked here for many generations. Surely they can have their jobs back? Also, I refused to sign the oath and now I cannot get into the Chief Warlock's office."

A voice behind him chimes in. Augusta looks really good these days.

"That is because it is my office now, Albus. So sorry to interrupt. Corey dear, would you recommend a new assistant for me?"

Corey runs over to Augusta and tells her about Adrian Pucey.

"He was a Slytherin, but he has all of the connections that would help you out, Miss Gussie. He knows the Wizengamot like the back of his hand and he is bored right now. If you call him, he will go through HR and you can request him." She hugs him, waves at me and glares at Albus.

"Thank you, dear. I loved the new coffee place you recommended. They had the most divine chocolate croissants! See you for lunch, Amelia. Albus." She left.

I turn back to Albus who is drinking his hot chocolate with an attitude.

"Albus, you have to complete the oath which was created by the Department of Mysteries in order to work here. Our Ministry was stagnating and we need competent people working here. Now, please try to work with me on things instead of against me." He sulks and sets down his cup.

"I fear you have let power go to your head, Amelia. I know another young man who let that happen and he turned into a dark lord." I should smack him, but I don't have time.

"Albus, goodbye. I am not power hungry. I am just not going to be a sycophant or a Dumbledore worshipper. Please have a nice day."

Corey escorts him out and shows Arthur Weasley into the office. He gets green tea and oreo cookies and he smiles at me.

"Hello, Amelia. I took my oath and that meant that I had to quit the Order of the Phoenix, but I believe in the Ministry under your leadership a lot more." I smile at poor Arthur. This was not going to be easy.

"Arthur, I think that you are under the influence of potions. Would you consider going to Gringott's and letting them test you and treat you? Also, I have some information and a mobile for you to use. It is much quicker than using an owl." I hand him a box of materials and the mobile.

"Are you talking about the love potion, because I know about that, Amelia. I have known since we had Bill, but by then, I loved my son. I would not leave my children, you understand. There has been no dosing since we had Ginny. I like a quiet life and I have a separate vault that I have put 25% of my earnings into over the years, so when I am ready, I will leave."

Wow. Corey beats me to an answer. "You are the bomb. I thought you were clueless, Mr. Weasley. I do not care for Percy, but you are always so nice. If you need help with something, you let me know. Here, have a tee shirt."

He is so funny. He had begged me to meet with Arthur because he said the man was too nice to be stuck with that harpy. Arthur opens the tee shirt and it says "Talk to the Hand". He laughs.

"I know what this means and it is appropriate. Molly does natter on and on. Thanks for the mobile, Amelia. I will be able to contact Xeno now. Some of his expeditions are when we go to play golf or go to the muggle cinema. We have a ball. I appreciate your discretion in these matters. See you later!" He leaves upbeat and I stare at Corey.

"He already has a plan and I would say that Arthur was sorted into the wrong house." He laughs and sends in the next contestant. He hands me a note before he sits down that I should say yes. This boy was going to be the death of me.

"How can I help you, Mr. Alucard?" Is this man a vampire? He is very handsome.

"So great of you to see me, Minister. I want to open up an arcade in Hogsmeade. It would be called "Game On". It would be run by my family or members of my coven. We use blood banks, so we are not dangerous. We would donate 15% of our earnings to the citizens of Knockturn Alley. We have machines that are like those in the muggle world. Here is the proposal. We already have the space paid for." I looked at him and then at Corey and sighed. Fine.

"Why won't you open one in Diagon Alley?" He grinned.

"We want to give the prank store some space for now. We have a deal with them and they will give out coupons to our place and we will do the same for them." I sign the proposal.

"Listen, you will need to have at least two house elves working there and the first time someone gets bitten, I am shutting you down." He just smiles and drinks his coffee.

"I understand and we have medallions from the goblins that help with our hunger and as I told you, we use something similar to muggle blood banks, but with magical citizens. We pay for their donations. We do not require very much blood. Thank you for your support of our gaming venture." He bows and leaves and I ask Corey for a break.

"You are going to get me impeached! First you set me up with Evan, you make Dumbledore my enemy and now I am supporting Slytherin coffee shops and vampire arcades!" He hands me a vanilla milkshake.

"Is this a bad time to mention that Remus Lupin is here?" A werewolf. Great. I know that he is not a dangerous man, but I am starting to wonder if this is not why Cornelius went crazy. I take a deep breath and drink my milkshake.

"Trust me, Miss Ammy. This will be the easiest one." He leaves the room and Remus comes inside. He does not look shabby anymore. He looks healthy, with almost no scars and his clothes are nice. He smiles and kisses my hand. Corey gives him a chocolate milkshake and he thanks him.

"I would like to let you know something straight away. I am a werewolf and I no longer shun the wolf inside me. I owe my health and well-being to my pack and I will not take Wolfbane potion anymore. It is really like poison to us." That is news to me.

"I signed up to work for the Department of Mysteries as a test subject two weeks ago and when I did my oath, many spells were found on me. They sent me to Gringott's and I found some shocking things and then I was tasked with finding a pack and I did. We are hoping to open a bed and breakfast in Vertical Alley."

He sits back and drinks his milkshake. I look at Corey and he nods at me again.

"Remus, do you have the funding?" He beams a smile at me.

"Yes, I had received monies from Lily and James, but the money never reached my vault. My goblin, Riptide assures me that this is a sound venture and it would also have a portal to the muggle world. It is a little more upscale and it will be called "The DragonFly Inn". I sign the proposal.

"Another reason that I am here is to ask you if you have heard from Harry Potter. I have been trying to contact him and I have had no luck. I also tried to contact Sirius with no success. I desperately want to talk to them." I look at Corey and he hands me a note.

"Remus, I think that you should talk to the Prewett twins. They know Sirius and they love pranks. Maybe they would help you out." He smiles and kisses my hand and leaves. I glare at Corey.

"Miss Ammy, he loves Little Harry Potter and we need another hotel besides the Leaky Cauldron. That man needs a makeover done to his whole bar! Do not get me started on the rooms there." I shush him and smile.

"I am sure that you can think of a way to help Old Tom out, Corey. Thank you for your help today. I will be having lunch with Augusta. She always has the best gossip." See you in a little while. I leave before he can find a troll for me to meet with. He is a mess, but if his ideas work, I will be seen as a visionary. I will cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 **Fred Prewett POV**

"Georgie, this shop will be so much fun! It is a shame that we cannot work here during the school year."

"Calm down, Freddie. We will be able to work on weekends if there are not any games scheduled."

"Okay, now try the boulder spell again, George." He looked at me like I was daft.

"We cannot try it until we are sure that the boulder will not be made of actual rock, Fred. I could kill you by accident and then where will I be? Who am I going to prank in their sleep? Who would I have to practice the rabbit season and duck season argument with?"

I sighed. He was right. "You are right, besides, if I am going to be the cuter twin, I am needed. We will continue to do our research and maybe we can use other rocks or Ron or something as a test subject."

He laughed at me. We love Looney Tunes. Rhys had showed it to us and they were crazier than us! He said that it was another reason that he would hurt anyone who called his betrothed Looney. I quite agree with him. She would never think to have little birds flying around someone's head after you smack them with a frying pan. Genius!

There was a knock on the door and I opened it to see Professor Lupin. I stepped back to let him inside and he turned into a parrot and back. George laughed.

"Hello, boys." He looks nervous. Our intent wards did not get him, so he must be alright.

"Hello, Professor Lupin." He grins at us.

"I am not your professor anymore. Listen, you know that I was friends with Sirius during school. We were called the Marauders and I have been—" We snatched him and tied him to a chair.

"You were a Marauder?" He nods. I gasp.

"You're Moony!" He nods.

Georgie pokes him. "You helped to make the Marauder's map?" He nods again.

"You are a werewolf?!" He nods again. We look at each other.

"Did you choose Dumbledore over Harry?" He shakes his head and takes out a document. How did he get loose?

"Boys, I taught Sirius that spell. Of course I know the counter curse and I can cast silently." Wow! He is all Marauder brainy and such.

We read the Gringott's report and it is so much worse than ours was. Carved runes, spells servant bonds. Blimey. That is a shame. George gives me the nod.

"Okay, we will make a call for you, but you have to swear an oath first not to tell anyone about Harry or whatever he tells you." He swears the oath and I call Socks.

He pops in with a tee shirt that says "Pop Champagne". He looks at us and smiles, and then he looks at Moony and turns his hair blue. We laugh.

"I see you is finally getting those obedience spells and runes removed, Mr. Moony." Wow. Socks is so up to date.

"Yes, Socks. Nice tee shirt." He smiles.

"Thank you. What can I be doing for the Twins of Terror?"

"Socks, we got Moony to swear an oath, so can you go and get our mutual friend? Tell him to come alone or with his girlfriend." He nodded and popped away.

Moony gets the same look as Sirius. "Harry has a girlfriend?"

We just nod and turn his tee shirt pink. He laughs and changes it back and Rhys shows up with Luna. They are wearing their kickball uniforms.

"No fair! You said you would not go without us, Rhys!" He shakes his head.

"We are going there next, Fred. We were going to call you. It is still set for 2pm. Hello, Moony."

He stares at Rhys for a long time and then he smells him and grabs him in a hug.

"Oh my Merlin! You look wonderful! What is your name now, Rhys or something? Will you ever forgive me for not taking you away from those muggles? This is your girlfriend?! Oh wow, you are safe! I am so glad!"

Wow. He is laughing and crying at the same time. Rhys pats his back.

"Moony, those runes were on your scalp for over 20 years. It was almost like you were Dumbledore's servant. We could not trust you. I am sorry about that. My name is Rhys Lexington now and this is Luna Lovegood, my betrothed."

We watch Moony hug Luna and she stares above his head.

"It is lovely to meet another child of the moon. Rhys, the nargles are gone. I am going to help Morag and the girls get changed. Do not be late!" She calls a house elf and leaves.

"She is cute, Rhys. Nice rings. Do you think Sirius will forgive me?" There was another pop.

"What about you, Moony? Will you understand if I have Slytherin friends now?" Sirius and Moony are here together! George and I tie them both up and they laugh.

"Just kidding, Padfoot! Carry on!"

We let them loose and they run to each other. We take pictures. They hug and talk and it is a lovefest. We join in on the group hug and Sirius turns into a canary. Awesome! The laughter is broken up by the arrival of two Gryffs.

"What's up, Colin?" He smiles and motions to me and George. We pose and preen for his pictures like always.

"I had to take your pictures as people to avoid at Hogwarts because of your pranks. What is your favorite color, Fred?" How can he tell us apart?

"Bluegreen of course." His brother writes that down and they pop away. Weird kids.

"Did you guys see that?" I turn to Rhys.

"What?" He dances around.

"Colin Creevy was in the same room as me and he did not go all stalker fanboy! Oh happy day!" He is so silly.

Sirius hands Moony a note.

"Your bed and breakfast sounds cool, Moony. Give that note to Bloodfang so I can invest. I have to do something with the kids today, but you can come to dinner if you want. Call Socks or Jewel. Did you get a mobile?" Moony nods.

"Yes, and maybe I will come to dinner. You say we cannot prank Lord Prince? Not even a little?" Sirius shakes his head.

"No. He makes this wonderful shampoo. I am trying to get him to sell it, but he is being all secretive about it. I have to go now. See you boys there. Bye Moony!"

He throws some dust at Moony and he turns into a wolf cub. How cute! I wave at Rhys and we play with our new pet. We have a half hour until our meeting. What fun!

 **Rhys POV**

We see her arrive and I shove Angelina at her before Sirius can open his mouth. "Hello, Madam Hooch!" She stares at our group and looks around at the field where we have agreed to meet.

"Hello, Miss Johnson. Hello children. Sirius Black. What is this meeting about?" I step forward.

"My name is Rhys Lexington and I will be a new 5th year. I was telling my new friends about kickball. It is a muggle sport and they loved it. I was hoping that you would approve it. We can have two teams per house. There would be the first through fourth years and then the upper years. It would be nine players per team and that would give more people a chance to play a team sport than with quidditch."

She blinks at me. "I would need to see this game played. Also, what about a field and you would need a referee." I take her arm and lead her to the picnic tables so she can sit down and watch us play.

"The house elves will make the field near the quidditch pitch and they will cast anti-magic wards so that no one can interfere with the game. Please have some refreshments while you watch us, Madam Hooch. She sits down and I grab Drake away from Tory.

"Come along, Casanova. We have to play now."

He waves at Tory and we play the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs against the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. It is a cut throat game, because we do not mind throwing the ball at each other to take out a player. Drake wins the game for his team when he slides into home base.

Sirius cheers for us with his megaphone.

Theo is congratulating him and teasing us. "Do you want to touch him!? The Slytherin Prince has won the game! Back away girls, he is smoking hot!"

We wait until Drake is done with his victory dance and we approach Madam Hooch laughing and joking with each other.

"Is this a joke, kids?" We shake our heads no.

"You all really get along?" We nod at her.

Sirius takes her hand. "Rolanda, they are all friends." She claps her hands.

"This is amazing! I love these uniforms and I insist on having one of each of these jerseys! Of course I will approve the game! Fred and George you look different! I love that you will have your shop finally! Congratulations." She fusses over us and grabs me and pulls me into a corner.

"I will give you an oath, my boy, but I know you and your daredevil moves." I look at her slack jawed as she takes an oath to keep my identity a secret.

"Good for you, lad. Now, I will expect you at Quidditch tryouts, but for a chaser this time, okay?"

I hug her. She signs the forms and Dennis and Colin show up to take pictures. We pose as the new members of the kickball teams and Madam Hooch poses and answers that she loves toffee. They pop away and we eat a lunch of fried chicken and BLT sandwiches with assorted fruit and sliced vegetables.

Lu sits next to me. "How do you really feel about Moony, Rhys?" I smile and hug her.

"I feel great. I am glad that the Department of Mysteries could help him along with the goblins and his werewolf pack. He needed the works." She steals my corn and Neville plops down next to me.

"Rhys, I heard about Professor Lupin from the twins. Do you think that he would help to train us in dueling?" That is an idea.

"Why don't you call him, Nev? Are your parents coming to dinner at Sirius' tonight?" He grimaces.

"No, they are still, um, adjusting to things and spending alone time together. I might get a sister or brother soon." Ew.

"Well, you and the girls are welcome to come. Sirius does love us, you know." Drake sits down.

"Tell me about it. He wants us to watch some more Disney films so we will be ready for our trip. He is showing Aladdin tonight. I heard that there is magic in it." I chuckle.

"Yes, there is, Drake. I think you will love it. Let's get out of here and tell everyone that the kickball teams are a go. Start recruiting."

 **Albus Dumbledore POV**

I cannot believe the number of forms I had to complete for human resources. None of them would do what I wanted and they said I kept falling asleep. I have become very frustrated. There was a ping from my devices! I performed a spell and followed the beacon from the tracking spell.

I land in an alley outside the "Fire House". The spells I placed on Sirius Black have led me to this location. I should have guessed that Harry was in the muggle world! I open the door to the establishment and the man looks me up and down.

"Aren't you a little early for Halloween?"

What is wrong with my clothes? Pink and orange look splendid together. I pay him using muggle money and I sit at a table. What kind of place is this?

A woman wearing tiny clothes comes over and offers me a bowl of pretzels and asks if I want a drink. I order a lemon fizzy water and she brings me something called a sprite. It is wonderful. I munch on my pretzels and wait.

Suddenly, the announcer introduces a girl called Candy and they play a song about it being hot in here and she gyrates and takes off her clothes. Men give her muggle money and she dances for them.

Hmmm. She might know where Harry is. Well, if I must, then I must. I take out a muggle note that says $20 on it and wave it in the air. The woman comes over and sits on my lap. I hand her more of them and she dances around.

"Listen, madam. Maybe you could stop wiggling in my lap and answer a question for me. I am looking for a young man named Harry. Have you seen him?" She winks at me.

"I will send him out for you. No problem. Everyone has different tastes." That was helpful of her.

A few moments later, a younger man comes out and stares at me. He is wearing tight pants and no shirt. He is all muscled and oily. I know that this is not Harry Potter, but since he came all this way I should give him some $20s. He dances around and takes off his pants to reveal some delightful little shorts that sparkle!

I like this place. I will have to look for young Harry Potter another time. My new friend wanted me to make it rain, but I am not going to break the statute like that. He will just have to be happy with some more muggle money. For fun, I throw it into the air and it floats down around him. He really likes that. It is so easy to please muggles. What a wonderful little place. I will just have to come back here soon.


	17. Chapter 17

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian. The former dark lord is now referred to as Marcus. This is a long chapter.**

 **Thank you so much to all of you that have favorited or marked my story for an alert. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **Rhys POV**

Once again, someone hates me enough to wake me at ass o'clock on a day that I can sleep in! Why do I give these people my mobile number? I answer the phone and growl.

"What?" I was not expecting the voice that greeted me.

"Good morning, Rhys. This is Lucius Malfoy. So, do you and Draco want to go horseback riding this morning?"

I looked out the terrace window and it was barely dawn. He might need to talk and I do need him for tomorrow. I sighed.

"Sure, Mr. Malfoy. I will get Drake and we can come over. Will we have breakfast first?" He chuckled.

"But of course! I am glad that you accepted my offer, Rhys. See you soon!" He hung up. I wrote a note to Lu and kissed her cheek.

I dressed in blood red cargo capris that were reinforced with black dragon hide and a navy blue hooded tee shirt over my wife beater that said "Touch it". The letters sparkled a little. I laced up my boots and grabbed my wand.

Romeo told me to keep it down. He is such a prissy bird. I asked my snake Ebony if she wanted to go with me and she gave me a withering look and asked why she would want to bump up and down for hours when she could relax and be attended to by the house elves? She had a point there.

I used the floo to get to Sirius's house and crept through the halls. I noticed that there was music playing. Was that? Why was Jewel playing the 'whisper' song by the ying yang twins and tiptoeing next to me? I stopped walking and looked at her.

She giggled. She was wearing a red dress with a lion on her apron. "Hey there, Master Rhys! I figured that you needed some sneaking music!"

She was hilarious. She started dancing and Socks and three elves I did not know popped in and started dancing along. They really did go crazy without much work to do. I cleared my throat.

"Yes, Master Rhys?" They were still bobbing their heads to the music. The beat was catchy.

"Did you guys deliver all of the potions and medallions to the muggleborns? Even the ones from the other years?" They nodded.

"Yes, sir. They is all taking the potions and they and the parents and families all have the medallions to protect them from legilmency. They will be ready tomorrow for the meetings and shopping."

Cool. I nodded and knocked on Draco's door. He groaned, so I walked inside to see him and Theo passed out. Good.

"Drake, please wake up. Your father has requested that we meet him at his estate for breakfast and horseback riding. Theo, I am sure that you are welcome to attend as well."

He gave me the middle finger, farted and said, "Sod off, Lex." I did an air freshening charm and stomped my foot.

"Your father will hear about this!" He started laughing and so did Theo.

"Man, he had me up all night looking at muggle movies. He said he wanted to bond and we ate shrimp and talked about the history of our family and he would not shut up!"

I sniffle. "Y-You mean that you spent all of that time with your f-father and you have the nerve to complain to me! I have no father you insensitive berk! How could you b-be so m-mean to m-meeeeee!" Jewel popped in with an iced tea for me and petted me on the back. Drake looked contrite and ashamed.

"Lex, I am sorry. I completely forgot! You know I would never—" I sent an aguamenti spell at him that drowned out the rest of his speech.

"Shut up and get dressed. I was fucking with you. I will always miss my parents, but I am not going to be a drag to you for having them. Hurry up. Your dad is like high or something. He is already waiting for us and I am not going over there alone. He already made me a partner in one of his farms and he wants to hire the Creevys to make a magazine like Vogue or something. All three of them were bouncing. I left them like that the other day."

Drake and Theo got dressed in outfits similar to mine and drank their iced tea, too. Jewel had like a secret recipe or something. I told her all the time that she was the bomb. Drake had a yellow top like mine that said "Bring it around town". He liked Spongebob Squarepants. Theo stuck to green and his shirt had "Get Money" on it with galleons falling down. It was cool and we had designed it.

At the mansion, Lucius brought us to a huge buffet. "Mr. Malfoy, we cannot possibly eat all of this. Why don't you invite Neville, Anthony, and Blaise over?"

He grinned at me and a moment later, the three boys I mentioned came through the floo wearing their kickball jerseys and pants like mine, but they were blue.

"Hey! What's up, Mr. Malfoy?" Neville kills me. He sat down and started on the French toast and turkey sausage. Blaise glared at Draco with narrowed eyes and Anthony sat next to Mr. Malfoy and whispered to him.

"Of course you may use my library after we are done, my boy!" He knew how to get a Ravenclaw's attention.

"Mr. Malfoy, are you ready for tomorrow?" He smiled and ate his crab cake. He really did have a lot of food on this table.

"Yes, Rhys. I already have the coupons for free robes at Madam Malkin's for the first years and cloaks and tee shirts for the rest of the years in the Prophet. Sebastian is paying for their potions books and Black is paying for their protective gear." He was talking so fast!

"The Scorpius Foundation will look quite generous. We also worked with Madam Malkin's to create better healer robes. I donated those as well. Penny is a star for thinking of it. She said her friend works at St. Mungo's and their uniforms are so drab and outdated. They will love me now. So finish eating. Where is Jasmine?"

She popped in with a cute little green dress on. She hands him what must be a calming draught. "Hello Master Lucius. Buck is telling me that the horses are ready. I will pack up this food for the needy families. Have a good time." She pats him on the head and we head out to the stables.

I have a good time with them and we discuss our game plan for tomorrow. We bet on the outcome of the race. Loser besides Anthony had to stay with Lucius. I lost, but I sicced him on Marcus after I read some of the new bills that were coming up in the Wizengamot. He was outraged. That was nice. I wanted to have lunch with Lu and maybe it would be a picnic. I missed her already. I waved at Mr. Malfoy and zipped through the floo. Tag, Marcus was it. I still do not know why Mr. Malfoy has so much energy these days?

* * *

 **Marcus POV**

I was having a lovely brunch with the even lovelier Miss Eastchurch at my manor. She had sworn an oath not to reveal my Slytherin ancestry and it was a beautiful day outside on the terrace. Between her swimming lessons and my elf turned personal trainer Boa, I have quite the physique these days. I do believe the kids would say I have it going on.

I cut into my egg white omelet that is made with spinach and mozzarella cheese and eat it as I savor the wonderful view of my companion's auburn curly hair. She was a delightful surprise. She is intelligent, which I prize and she has a sense of humor. She thought she was a muggleborn, but I advised her to go to Gringott's and she is officially a halfblood. I do not really care anymore. I care about her smile and her temperament. She puts up with Jay and Regulus hanging around as though they have no other friends.

My favorite thing about her is that she hates Albus Dumbledore. I listened to her tell me of her Hogwarts years and how her house was basically shunned and discriminated against. To hear her tell it, they were treated worse than Slytherins. She had a point though. Why was the Head Boy and Girl rarely a Ravenclaw? I personally believe it was so that Albus would not have someone too smart in a position of authority, but I digress.

Today, we are going to Diagon Alley. I want to get the feel of the place and do a few errands, since tomorrow is the party bus. Rhys sent me the booklet that the Creevy brothers put together with a note that he could not include the dark lord even though I was an important part of wizarding history.

He also sent me another tee shirt that read "Say My Name". He assured me that it was a song title and that he hoped I got the joke. I did. He was quite humorous. It was nice having family.

I turned to Lorelai and kissed her hand. "My lady, are you finished with your meal?" She smiled at me.

"Of course, Marcus. Are you ready to go yet?"

I nodded and called for Boa. He popped in wearing shorts and a green jersey that said, "Slytherins: Bad boys for life". I want one of those! He winked at me and said that he had one for myself, Regulus and Jay. Great! I love my house elf.

I asked him to clear our food and to donate it to a shelter or a needy family. He smiled at me and Lorelai beamed at me. Wow. It feels good being nice. I stood and pulled out her chair. She smells delicious. Her scent drives me to distraction. I had asked her if it was magical and she said that it magically made me touch her a lot, so yes, but she confided that it was made by muggles and sold at Macy's. I had to go there.

My mobile rang and I answered it while admiring Lorelai's sundress. It was baby blue and it was tight across the bodice with thin straps at her shoulders and when she walked, it flared. She wore a slightly darker open robe with it and the highest shoes that sparkled. I was going to keep a tight grip on her waist today. Or we could just flash our betrothal rings. Heh heh. No grass is growing under me and Sirius had bragged for days about his ring.

"Yes, Lucius?" He was listening to some music about losing his mind.

"Marcus? I just found out that the old fool is sponsoring a bill that will raise the tuition of muggleborns and lower the tuition of the purebloods. He is trying to get the older families on his side for something. Also, I am still drafting our bill for the muggleborn summer camps for next year."

He needed to calm down.

"Lucius, we will show up and take on our seats that we can claim by heritage and proxy and we will support his bill." He hung up on me!

I asked Lorelai for another moment and I waited for him to show up. He came storming through the floo wearing a comfortable looking pair of pants that had many pockets, sneakers and a hooded white and silver tee shirt that said "I have a big…Ego". I liked it, and it was exactly right for the man that was about to smack me with his pimp cane.

"Lucius, you remember Lorelai, my betrothed, don't you?" He stopped charging at me and took a deep breath. Boa popped in with a lemon smoothie for him and he drank it and sighed.

"Good morning, Miss Eastchurch. You are looking quite splendid in that frock. I must say, Ravenclaw was a house that I overlooked much to my dismay. Those shoes you are wearing are simply divine." He kissed her hand and held it way too long. Lorelai just giggled at the attention.

I elbowed him out of the way and he straightened up. What was his deal?

He looked down at me, which was quite the feat since we are the same height. "Have you lost your mind, Marcus?! What kind of Slytherin are you? You want me to side with that bumbling old fool? I thought we shared the same ideals? I think that maybe you have done one ritual too many. Or maybe you are under the imperious?"

He started to wave his cane at me and I backed away.

"Lucius, if you had allowed me to finish my sentence, you would have heard the rest of the plan. There are no real muggleborns and we can get a rider attached to his bill that stipulates all students must have a heritage test done at Gringott's and that he will pay for it. You see, there will be no tuition hike and we will casually mention that halfbloods and purebloods should pay the same price."

Lucius stopped looking like he was going to hex me and drank his smoothie.

"I know Albus and this is just some scheme to line his coffers with gold from poor unsuspecting muggleborns. We will make sure that it is administered by Bloodfang or someone he appoints. It will give the semblance of propriety and Albus will not be able to deny that we are making good points. The bill will pass and nothing will really happen."

Now Lucius was looking at me like I was Voldemort again. He had better not bow down to me. I continued explaining.

"Riptide handles the tuition account anyway. I found out when I tried to pay Rhys' tuition and he said it was already taken from our main vault. So, you see, we will foil Albus' plan and the Purebloods will love us for safeguarding their money."

Lorelai clapped and kissed my cheek and rubbed my chest. "I adore an intelligent man! I am going to freshen up before we leave, Marcus. That was so brilliant just now! Whew! I have to just go and do something right quick."

She winked at me and licked her lips. Being smart turns her on? I was staring at her delectable assets when Lucius cleared his throat to get my attention.

"Yes, Lucius?" He looked around and pulled me closer to him. Really close.

"Listen, I have a month until my wedding and I am not going to make it. I am a wizard on the edge. Cissa wants to wait to consummate our relationship again until after we have our vows and handfasting. She wants the glow. I need to torture someone before I snap, Marcus. You have to help me!"

I want to laugh, but I could very well be in his shoes one day, so I think. I have it!

"Lucius, you can go and capture McNair, Bole, Crabbe and Goyle and convince them of our new way of life in any manner you want. They are my last few hold outs. Even Rookwood was relieved that he can live his life on the up and up. He told me that he had already taken his Ministry oath and that he was dreading disappointing me. We laughed and made a date to play muggle pool next week."

"Now, you cannot torture them with magic, but, maybe you can torture their minds, Lucius. Be creative. Maybe you can take them to the muggle line dancing. That would be torture for them, or to a petting zoo, or an animal shelter. No! Take them to a muggle circus. That will drive them nuts. Make them wear these bracelets and they will not be able to harm anyone. They will only last for 12 hours and we have the bus thing tomorrow. Have fun, Lucius."

He hugged me and took the bracelets and ran for the floo. He is funny. Strung out because he wants his wife so badly. She must really be a creative witch in the boudoir. I will not think about Narcissa that way. No, I will not.

My Lorelai returned to me and she had let down her hair. She looked beautiful and I told her. Well, I showed her by kissing her passionately. She backed away blushing at me.

"Stop that, Marcus. I am already using my spare panties."

Why would she torture me with that information? The vile seductress! She swayed towards the floo. We were flooing into the Dragonfly. Rhys told me to check it out and I agreed.

* * *

 **Lucius POV**

I had the element of surprise on my side as I captured each of the wizards that Marcus told me about. With the judicious use of portkeys, I had them transported to my parlor. I had them tied up and I put their bracelets on them.

"Lucius, what is the meaning of this? I was about to eat my breakfast?" This was from Crabbe.

"Yes, Lucius. What is going on? My wife will be missing me." This was from Goyle. No she would not.

"I just want to know why I am tied up. I am not into this, Lucius." Ew. Bole needed to check himself.

"Lucius, do you need my expertise as an executioner or something? I know I charged you a lot for that hippogriff thing, but there is no need to have hard feelings. It was years ago!"

I cannot stand McNair for bringing that up. I had cried with Draco last night as I repented about poor Buckbeak. Draco had called Sirius and he told me that he rescued the animal when he had escaped. I hugged him and thanked him for righting a wrong. He had changed my hair green and left. I think that we are like friends now.

"Gentlemen, the death eaters have disbanded and there will be no more murdering or raping or killing." They gasped in shock.

"But what will we do for fun, Lucy?" I turn and backhand McNair across the face. That felt good.

"You will change your clothes into what I brought for you and then we will have lunch at a muggle place. You will behave or I will leave you in my movie room to watch Legally Blonde. Trust me, you will hate the color pink for the rest of your days. After that, the real fun begins."

* * *

 **Sebastian POV**

"Good morning, my dear." I kissed Nymphadora on the cheek as I sat next to her at the table.

"You know as well as I do that it is lunchtime, Sebastian! School starts in a month and we have a trip and our wedding coming up and you are too busy to spend time with me on my day off? You spend too much time in your lab and you missed a meal! I wanted to go roller skating with Amelia and Evan and now we cannot go."

Oh no, I missed roller skating. Oh, darn! Please. There was no way she was getting me to make a fool of myself on those infernal contraptions. I had to save face, however, so I groveled. We were alone anyway.

"Please, Pet. I am sorry. I was getting all of the potions together for the muggleborns and coordinating with the elves. I also had to oversee the construction and expansion of Slug & Jiggers. I tried to hurry. Maybe we can go for a drive in your new Mercedes to a nice vineyard. You like wines right?"

She smiled at me. She was quite the connoisseur. I had gotten the car for her as a betrothal gift. Black had done the same for Hestia.

"Fine, we can do that. Actually, I wanted to introduce you to another friend Emmaline Vance. I think that she would make a good match for Jay and Fleur Delacour; she works at Gringott's with me. I want to introduce her to Regulus. It will really irk Sirius that his brother is dating a Veela."

I chuckled with her. She was so delightfully devious. I agreed to assist her with her matchmaking plans. She would not be with us tomorrow on the bus, because of work, but she promised to come to the cookout afterwards.

I adore my witch and she looks fetching in that gold mini skirt and black halter shirt. I told her that she did not have to morph to please me and it turns out that she was decreasing the size of her bust all this time. I am a very lucky wizard. As I leaned forward for a better view and to plot with my beautiful bride to be, I thought that poor Regulus Black would not know what hit him.

* * *

 **Marcus POV**

We stepped out into a marbled foyer with a house elf waiting for us. She was wearing a silver uniform and shoes.

"Welcome to the Dragonfly. I am Teensy. To exit our floo is free, but to enter it costs a galleon and it includes the shipping of your packages, screening for any harmful spells you may have picked up, and the beverage of your choice before you leave in our lounge."

She snapped her fingers and we were dust and ash free. Wow. I liked this place and for those of us that could afford it, that was a great service.

"Thank you, Teensy. I think that I will partake of that service on our way back. Have a good day."

We bowed to each other and I escorted my pretty companion down the road to Gringott's. I could have flooed directly into the bank, but I promised Rhys and I wanted to show off my bookworm. She told me that she read in bed. She was going to kill me. I wondered when she would want to have our wedding.

"Oh! Marcus, I see some of my friends. You don't mind if I go over there for a moment, do you?" She pointed to the coffee shop that I know was run by Rowle. Nope.

"Not at all, my dear. I will see to my affairs in Gringott's and then I will meet you back here. Please do get me a mocha latte. I find them delicious." I kissed her on the lips right there in Diagon Alley and swaggered to the bank.

Bloodfang greeted me like an old friend and I sensed that he was up to something.

"What is making you so gleeful, honored goblin? Did you crush someone today or something?" He grinned at me.

"No, Little Wizard. I have a business proposition for you to invest in. I know how much you liked your cruise, so I looked into it and you can invest there. Also, the new Potions Master is partnering with Slug & Jiggers. The construction work will be completed by tomorrow. You should invest there. The Slytherin dorms need to be refurbished and I donated in your name and informed the elves. Sign here and here."

I signed. It seemed that he had quite the list for me today.

"Bloodfang, what if I agree to whatever you have on that long list of yours and we say that unless you lose me money over all, we can keep to that arrangement? Maybe you can just include a summary with my monthly statement?"

He rubbed his hands together and handed me a two inch thick stack of papers to sign. Endorsements? Sponsoring of the Hogwarts' Slytherin Kickball Team, Elves in Need? I looked up at this.

"Lord Lexington, the elves want to work and you have many properties. This agreement means that they can work at your properties, farms, and businesses when they need to work and that you will pay for their clothes and food and such. You are just one of many wizards that have been approached. The elves will rotate. Some of them will fill in for your elves when they go on vacation or as they call it, research trips."

I nod and sign it. Boa deserved a break when he wanted it. Scales, too.

One form stopped me cold. "Why do you want me to partner with Hagrid, Bloodfang?" He leaned back in his chair.

"Look, Hagrid is sitting on a goldmine with the acromantulas! Become his business partner and we can give him a makeover. We can build him a better house, and we can train him. He already has his wand. If you agree, then we will send him the letter immediately and once he is here, it will be easy to convince him."

He plots better than I do.

"If we get him to agree to this, then we will build a habitat for the acromantulas on the far side of the forest and give him a portkey he can use to visit them if he wants. We will harvest the silk and animal parts and the centaurs will love us! It is win-win and you will make lots of money and so will the Fang Clan. We are also a partner. This was my idea. Sign the form, Wizard or I will keep you here longer."

He has me and he knows it. Fine.

"Just limit my interactions with Hagrid. He is a Dumbledore lover and I cannot abide his worshipful speeches."

He grinned and took all of the forms and put them into his out bin. They disappeared.

"Very good, Little Wizard, not leave me. You did not need to come here for money. You have your bag and your debit card. We are busy setting up for the children that will converge upon us tomorrow. We are treating it like a battle. We have also placed bets on how many vaults will be activated and such. It is a most profitable time for us."

I told him about the new bill we were going to pass and he shook my hand.

"Thank you for the heads up, Lord Lexington, now leave me and go and rescue your damsel."

What? I left at top speed, as dignified as possible and spotted my Lorelai being set upon by Regulus and Jay. Oh. She was just being annoyed. They were smiling at her and drinking iced coffee. She had a fake grin on her face and I could tell that she was itching to pull out a book. No! If she started reading, she would be busy for hours.

"Hello, dearest. I apologize for keeping you waiting so long. Thank you for my drink. I see that Jay and Regulus have kept you occupied. Gentlemen, have you tried out the Dragonfly Inn yet?" They waved at me.

"Yes, and that bloke Remus put us out. He said he was not going to let us play Twister! It is a fun game, Marcus."

They pouted together. I had sent them to Toys R Us to keep them busy one day and they came back hooked on the board games. The elves loved playing with them. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the parchment that Bloodfang's assistant Grabhook gave me on the way out. It advertised a new arcade that opened today and it was all the way in Hogsmeade. Perfect. I handed it to the guys.

"Regulus, I have this information on a new gaming place in Hogsmeade called 'Game On'. You should check it out." Before I finished my sentence, he snatched the paper and kissed Lorelai's hand and pulled Jay with him.

"Wow. That was cool how you got rid of them, Marcus. Now, let's check out the bookstore." Hell no.

"Actually, love, I wanted to go to the Prophet. I need to place an ad right quick and then maybe we can pick up a wedding planning book and some more shoes for your lovely feet."

She squealed and kissed me deeply. Wow. She must really love shoes. I took her with me to the Prophet. I was offering free messenger bags to all first years, a trunk upgrade to all second years, a pet to all third years and parchment and quills to the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years. I gave them my name and family crest and they promised to place the ad.

I then went to the trunk shop and told the owner to expect the children to show up with the coupons and that he should charge my Gringott's account. I repeated this in the parchment store and the pet store.

We had a lovely time shoe shopping and we got our planning book. At the bookstore, I talked to Mr. Flourish who agreed that the first years that came would get 10% off, the second years 20% off and so on. I told him to bill my Gringott's account for the difference and that he should advertise it.

We agreed that the seventh years deserved the most discounts because they had been buying books so long. He shook my hand. I was making quite a few friends in the alley today. Go me. It took some doing, but with a promise of a hot fudge brownie sundae that I would feed to her, Lorelai left the bookstore with several self-updating books.

We headed to the Dragonfly for our drinks and sundaes and they checked our purchases. The wedding planner book had spells on it to make the bride crazy so that we would hire a wedding planner. Wow. We had that removed.

I had a tracking charm on me that was from Regulus. I had that removed. I had a shield charm on me from Rhys. Aww. He was worried about little old me? He was a good nephew. I kept that one. Lorelai had a tracking charm from Jay.

When I saw them again, I was going to make them watch Steel Magnolias. Lucius had already warned me that it would make you cry. That was what they got for messing with me. All in all, it was a good day for me. I still had to go to dinner at Sirius' home, but first, I needed a nap. I escorted Lorelai to the floo and she went home, and then so did I.

I checked my planner. I got everything done and now I will look like a philanthropist and get good press before the Wizengamot meets in two weeks. I told Boa to wake me at 5pm and to lay out my new jersey. It was true, we are bad boys for life. I hope Lucius is having fun working out his frustrations on those four rogue ex death eaters.


	18. Chapter 18 August 1st Part One

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian. The former dark lord is now referred to as Marcus. This is a long chapter and it is part one of the day.**

 **Thank you so much to all of you that have favorited or marked my story for an alert. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **Lucius Malfoy POV**

It was 3am and I had broken into the Ministry building. Well, technically, we had been let into a back entrance, but we were breaking into the Hall of Prophecies. I had received this mission from Marcus. Marcus said that he had to be the one to check on the prophecy, but I had told him that I had a way to do this with no problems. I just hoped that my crew was capable. I was wearing all black. We all were. We had these devices in our ears that allowed us to talk to one another. I spoke to Vincent and Gregory.

"Lower me slowly, now." We were using muggle means to aid in our caper.

They both answered in the affirmative and soon I was slowly dropping from the ceiling vent in the Room of Prophecies. I kept my body taut and my arms and legs were spread as I was suspended by the ropes. I had a headband device with a permanent lumos spell on it to light the way. I located the shelf that held the orb and told Vincent and Gregory to stop.

Cissa would love to see me right now! We had McNair and Bole as lookouts. I had told them that they could use prank spells on anyone that came close. I had stressed that it be prank spells only or that I would force them to watch that Ya Ya movie again.

We had all loved Mission Impossible, though, hence our current scheme. I reached the prophecy and saw the caption that said "SPT to AWPBD about ?Harry Potter and the Dark Lord". Good. I took out our prophecy and switched it with the orb that was there with a quick switching spell and waited. Alarms started going off.

"Retreat!"

They hurriedly pulled me up and I saw Rookwood come into the room and look around and then up. He gave me a thumbs up and shut off the alarm and I climbed back into the vent with Gregory and Vincent. We regrouped outside.

"Good job, gentlemen. Walden and Roderick, we are finished. What did you do?" They giggle through our connection.

"We may have made some changes to the statues in the atrium. Nothing major, Lucius. We are leaving now. Have a nice day."

They were thinking of starting a chicken restaurant. Whatever. I turned to Vincent and Gregory.

"I will talk to you two later. You were excellent. Make sure you go to the bank early."

They nodded. They did everything together.

"Sure thing, Lucius. So if we handle our business without being criminals you will let us come to your wedding?" I sigh. I did promise them.

"Yes, Vincent and Gregory. Go to the bank early about your art gallery idea. I have to go and get another few hours of sleep."

We used our portkeys and left. I arrived at Marcus' manor to find him pacing back and forth while listening to some muggle rap song.

"Ahem." He turns off the music and sits down. His elf pops in and gives us both a cup of tea.

"The mission was a success, Marcus." He lets out a deep breath.

"Thank you, Lucius. I was concerned about the alarm spells that were set up." I waved him off and handed over the orb.

"Well, I told you that I had seen a film with a plan that would work. I got it and I replaced it with the one that Rhys and Draco made. What did they put inside of it?" He shrugs.

"They won't say. Rhys said that we should force it to be played at the next Wizengamot meeting and that our reactions have to be of genuine surprise. He also said that it is keyed to Dumbledore's magical signature so the only person that can remove it will be him. He said it will be funny and that Dumbledore will be greatly embarrassed. He said to do it after our other bill."

He leans back in his chair and sips his tea.

"We will support his supposition that the dark lord is back and that if the prophecy is about Harry Potter, we will help him to find him. Rhys said that once the orb is retrieved and played, no one will believe anything Dumbledore again. Thank you again for doing this. You know that you do not work for me anymore."

I scoff. "Nonsense. I will always feel a certain kinship with you, Marcus and this was most enjoyable. I think I may like being a spy or something of that nature."

He laughs. "If that is what makes you happy, Lucius. You really whipped those four into shape." I pick an imaginary piece of lint off of my sleeve.

"Was there ever any doubt? I found that some muggle movies can be absolute torture to watch."

We both laugh. "Okay, then, Lucius. I will see you on the bus later. I am going with Rhys to pick up two children."

Good for him. "I am not assigned any children. Draco wants me to talk to the parents."

We shake hands and I leave. I send a text to Cissa that I miss her and I love her and I shower and get into bed. She would have loved seeing me in action. I was just like a movie star!

* * *

 **Sirius POV**

"Move along, people! Let's go! Come along, now. Pass he pancakes. Move expeditiously!" I ducked a flatulence hex from Prince. Some people had no sense of humor.

"Black, we agreed to let you be the greeter on the bus, but if you do not put that megaphone away and cease your blathering at the breakfast table, I will find a neutering charm and practice it on you!"

Wow. He needs some pixie dust or something.

"Sebastian, cheer up! Today is going to be great! Aren't you excited?" I was practically bouncing in my seat.

"Cousin Sirius, please calm down. We still have another hour before we leave. You and Uncle Sebastian will be on the bus with Mother and Father and I am going with Theo to meet our assigned first years."

I sigh and nod at Draco. Fine, this was a tough crowd. I know! I will call Rhys. I call him and he growls and hangs up on me. My mobile rings a moment later and it is that nice little Luna.

"Sirius, you must calm down and clear your jackalopes or you will be hexed into your dog form for the day. Today you are the Lord Black, but a relaxed and approachable Lord Black that has a fun side. You will not be wacky and wild. You must save that for when you are back at home or at the cookout. In public, you have to have a little decorum and Rhys was in the shower when you called and Socks popped in with the mobile. It was hilarious. I will see you in a little while."

She was right. Fine. "Thanks, Luna. You are very wise. Did Socks get a picture? I have a photo album to update after all." She giggles.

"Of course, Sirius and I will give it to you for a funny photo of your brother." Damn, she was a tough negotiator.

"Fine, but he is busy today. He said that he has some fancy date or something. Good for him. See you, Luna." I hang up and eat my breakfast. Today was going to be so great!

* * *

 **Hermione POV**

I came down to breakfast to find my parents pouring over the Daily Prophet. Since when do they read it? What were they wearing?

"Mum? Dad? What is going on?"

They smiled at me. My mom was wearing a red and white wrap dress that came to her knees and some scandously high heels. Dad was wearing a white button down shirt and khaki cargo capri pants with sneakers. They both had robes on as well. The material looked like dragon hide. What was going on?

"Good morning, Hermione. We are reading in the paper about all of the discounts and free items you will receive today in Diagon Alley. Did you take the potion we gave you?" Yes, I took it, but where did they get it from?

"Yes, Mum and thank you. I do notice that my teeth finally look as though I had worn braces. What do you mean discounts and free items?"

She hands me the paper and I see that I could get a 50% discount at Flourish and Blott's and free parchment and quills and a cloak at Madam Malkin's! Wow. There was a caption that said I had to have a chain from Gringott's that would prove what year I was in at Hogwarts. So all we need to do is go to the bank.

"Hermione, after breakfast, we will go to the bank with you and then you can do your shopping alone or with your friends if you want. We have another engagement today."

Wow! I could shop in peace!

"That sounds great, Mum! Thanks!"

I eat my breakfast and plan a letter to Ron so that he can meet me at Fortescue's later this morning. I had to go and review my book on the goblins right quick. Who were my parents talking to on their mobiles? That was another thing! I still wanted a mobile phone! I made a sandwich and raced to my room to find that book. Today should be fun.

* * *

 **Molly Weasley POV**

"Arthur, what are you wearing?"

My dullard of a husband was in some muggle getup and his shirt said "Still Not a Player" and it was red. He was wearing some strange pants and shoes and his outer robe had no sleeves. He was calmly eating his eggs and sausage.

He looks a little different, too. He has better posture and are those muscles? When did his hair get all thick and dark? It was a dark auburn instead of a bright red. He finished swallowing his food and drank some cranberry juice. He had started drinking that instead of pumpkin juice lately.

"Molly, I am wearing what I want to wear. I am doing an assignment in the muggle world today, so I have to dress accordingly. You have a good day, and do not forget to take Ron and Ginny to Gringott's for their Hogwarts chains. They will not get their discounts and free items in the Alley without them today." What?

"What nonsense are you talking about, Arthur? No one is giving us a discount or anything for free! We will have to make do with second hand items again just like always since you barely earn enough to support us!"

He shook his head at me and handed over the Prophet. I read it and he was not lying. Well, fine. I will take the kids to the bank.

"Fine, I will take them to the bank." He drank his juice and made a call on his muggle device and then he turned to me as he left.

"Molly, if you have a problem with the amount of money I earn, you are more than welcome to get a job yourself instead of sitting at home all day writing howlers to people. Have a good day."

He left out the back door and he called the Knight Bus. Why would he call the Knight Bus? How dare he tell me to get a job!

"Ronald! Ginerva! Come and eat your breakfast! Percy get up!" The kids stumble down the stairs and I show them the paper. Of course Ronald is excited.

"Mum, if you are getting a discount on our things, won't we have enough money to buy me a broom?" Hasn't he learned his lesson yet?

"No, Ronald. You are not getting a broom! You need to focus on your grades this year! And I thought you wanted a girlfriend? If you spend all of your money on a broom, how will you take someone to Hogsmeade?" He grumbles, but nods at me.

"You are an idiot, Ron!" I glare at Ginny.

"Do not talk to your brother that way!" She glares right back at me. I will hurt her! Maybe a nice chastity charm on Little Miss Cheeky will set her to rights.

"Mum, it says right here in the Prophet that new school brooms were donated by Sirius Black. Ron can use a school broom for free to try out for Quidditch. New team brooms were donated by the Longbottoms, so if he gets onto a team, he will have a broom to use. Ronald does not think."

I take the paper back and hand her a plate of food. She also eats calmly. It would seem that only Ronald eats like someone is going to take his food away from him.

"Oh, I had not read about that. It was very generous of the Longbottoms to make that donation, and it is nice to see that Sirius Black is doing something good with his money. Ginny, dear, did you hear about the betrothal of young Neville to Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott?" She sulks.

"Yes, Mum. Susan told me herself. I cannot believe they are using a line continuation contract!"

"Why does a clumsy oaf like Neville get two birds and I don't even have one yet?" Food sprays onto the table. It is so gross.

I smack Ronald on the head.

"Stop talking with food in your mouth! It looks disgusting and it is wasteful. Now sit up, your posture is horrible, Ronald. No wonder you do not have a queue of young ladies floo calling you. You have food spilled all over your clothes!"

I must have really damaged him with those transfiguration spells when he was younger, but he was such a pain in the arse as a toddler. He really did make a cute little gnome. No matter, there is nothing to be done about that now.

"Mum! Stop nagging me! I will change my shirt before we leave if it makes you happy. Can I have another helping of French toast?"

I smile. He does love my food. Such a scamp. Maybe he is not so bad after all.

* * *

 **Rhys POV**

"Have fun, Lu. I will catch up to you on the bus." I kiss her cheek and give her a hug.

She looks so cute in her tee shirt and little denim skirt. She has her robe in her bag. It has ruffles and it is sleeveless. We all have shirts that have our names on them like employees and they are in the colors of our house. Since I am not sorted yet, I have on a white golf shirt that says Rhys on the pocket and royal blue cargo pants and my dragon hide boots. My robe is in my messenger bag with my two files.

I left through the floo and met Uncle Marcus. He was waiting for me in a green golf shirt that said Mr. Lexington on it and black cargos.

"Good morning, Rhys. Did you eat yet?" I smiled at him.

"Yes, Uncle Marcus. Are you ready?"

He nods and we use my portkey to get to the group home where Mark Evans and Tara LeFey live. We cancel our notice me not charm and walk up to the lady in charge. She looks miserable and mean. There are kids running around and she just ignores them.

Uncle Marcus does not move, so I step forward. "Hello, we are here to pick up Mark Evans and Tara LeFey for their orientation for their new school."

She sniffs at us and tells us to follow her. I look at Marcus and he looks a little pale.

"Are you alright?" He shakes his head.

"No, this place reminds me of where I grew up. We cannot allow them to continue to live here, Rhys. I will not stand for it." I rub his back.

"Okay, let's just talk to them and then we can leave and call the bus." He nods at me.

We are shown to a room that is at the end of the hall and he points to it and leaves quickly. I knock on the door and it is opened a crack.

"Yes?" I look at the girl who reminds me of Tonks, especially because her hair is purple and smile.

"Hello, we are from your new school and we have come to take you to the orientation and the cookout. Did you take your potions?"

She smiles and pulls me inside of the room. They have decorated it with posters of movies and they have stars taped to the walls and ceilings.

"I like the stars." She giggles.

"They glow at night. We made them glow!"

She is very excited and I see that she is wearing her tee shirt that says "I am a good witch" and capri pants. Her hair turns blue, and then purple again. Uh huh.

Marcus has approached Mark and he has been sitting at a desk. I pull Tara over so that I can hear their conversation.

"If you would be agreeable, you can leave this domicile today for the last time. I would be glad to offer you a home at my manor." Wow. Check out Uncle Marcus.

Mark just stares at him. "Really? That would be great! What about Tara? We are best friends. I will not leave her behind." Marcus nods.

"We will of course bring Miss LeFey along, but I think that she may have a distant relative who may want to meet her. You will be at school with her for ten months, and it is quite easy to travel between our homes, Mr. Evans. Please allow me to adopt you." Wow.

Mark looks at Tara and she gives him a thumbs up and bounces on her feet. Mark turns to Marcus and finally smiles.

"Okay. Let me just pack."

I wave at him. "Nonsense. Hey Socks!" Socks pops in wearing his golf shirt that has his name on it and pictures of dancing socks and red cargos with a lot of pockets.

"Hello, Master Rhys! What can I do for you? I am supervising the other elves to set up for the cookout and the games." I smile.

"This is a house elf."

Tara nods. "They came to us and gave us these chains to wear and the potions, but they said to keep it a secret!"

I continue to explain. "They are magical beings and they are very intelligent. Mostly they like to work. It helps their magic or something. Never be mean to them. Anyway, Socks can help you guys to pack and we can get the forms signed downstairs. I have to call Sirius. He is the relative that we believe you are related to, Tara."

They just blink at me and Tara pulls Socks over to her dresser and he starts to pack her a bag that he made bottomless. I call Sirius.

"Wassup!" I sigh. He is really going to be a handful today.

"Nevermind. Maybe I should call Andromeda."

"What? Why? I am just as good as Andy!"

"Sirius, we have met a young witch who is a metamorphmagus. I believe that she may be related to you. Will you come here and act normal and sign her paperwork?" He cheers.

"Another Black! We are making a comeback! Send me the coordinates. I will be right there. You will not recognize me, Rhys old boy!" He hangs up and I turn back to Mark, who is laughing while Boa is packing his things.

"You guys are awesome! Do we get wands today like it said on the letters? Will we really get scholarships? Is this really happening?" He just gave me a flashback.

"Yes, Mark. Calm down. Did you get your mobile phones?" They both nod and suddenly, Sirius apparates into the room. He looks posh in his grey linen suit.

"Good morning, children. I am pleased to meet you. I am Lord Black and I see my little relative right there! Hey cutie! Can I adopt you into my family? You don't have to live with me if you do not want." He ticks off names on his hand.

"There is Andy and her husband Ted, and there is Nymphie who can also change her hair and looks and her fiancé Prince and there is Cissa and Lucy. I am engaged to a lovely woman named Hestia. It is up to you, but I have to sign the paperwork because I am the head of the family and all of that jazz."

Tara runs over to Sirius and hugs him and they start talking about an allowance and wouldn't she like a new ring or a pet or something when Marcus clears his throat.

"Yes, Your Slytheriness?" Sirius still gets irked by Marcus a little bit.

"We have a schedule to keep, Black. Let us handle the paperwork and get to the bus." Sirius smiles and calls Jewel.

She pops in with a yellow sundress and apron on. "Master Sirius, I am busy. Do you really need me?"

He smiles at her. "How much longer will this transfiguration last, Jewel?" She smiles.

"When you are ready to change back, press your ring. Now leave me alone. I have a kitchen full of elves and we are also harvesting wine today." She pops away.

"Alrighty then. Let's sign some papers!"

Sirius claps and we follow him to the office of the mean woman whose name is actually Ramona Killjoy. Between giggles, Sirius explains that he simply must adopt Tara and we use a confundus and all of the paperwork is completed.

Mark gets adopted into the Slytherin family and Marcus allows him to remain an Evans if he wants. Mark thanked him and we all left to stand at the bus stop. I showed the kids how to call the bus, by squeezing my medallion and thinking that I need a ride and the bus appeared with a bang that startled us and thrilled Sirius. He jumped on and closed the door in our faces.

"I cannot believe that I volunteered to spend the entire day with this buffoon."

"Calm down, Marcus. He is excited." He nods.

The doors of the bus open again and Sirius has changed his clothes to his red golf shirt and black dragon hide pants. He is wearing a crown on his head that lights up. He is so silly.

"Welcome to the Party Bus! Step on up and have a seat! Kids please go to the upper level and adults stay on the lower level. Refreshments are being served and there is movies and music while we pick up the rest of our participants."

We get on and I hug Marcus and wave at Mr. Weasley, who is driving, and take Tara and Mark upstairs with me. We are the first ones here, so I give them the booklets to read and we have muffins and watch the Wizard of Oz. The scenery goes by outside at a rapid pace and we seem to drive through walls and squeeze through lanes. It is like being on a roller coaster ride.

* * *

 **Sirius POV**

We stop at the next house on the list and I send Lucy to the door. He comes back grinning.

"Did you give them the portkey?" He smiles.

"Yes. They are coming to ride with us. The Grangers said that they will take the portkey after they go to the bank with their daughter. They are nice and that Jane looks marvelous in her dress. She liked my cane." I hand him a smoothie.

"Take it down a thousand, Lucy. Stop pimping or Cissa will hurt you."

I look at my cousin and she just smiles a secret smile. She is the kind of witch that gets you in your sleep. Lucy had better recognize. The Black family grimoire has some vindictive spells inside of it.

The Grangers get on and sit down. They said that their daughter will meet them in front of the bank in an hour. That is cool.

I look at Lucius. He drinks his drink and nods at me. Our next stop is where we are supposed to pick up Anthony and Megan with their assigned family, the Turks.

They come out of the house and there are the parents and a younger child following Anthony, Megan and Christopher Turk, first year. I do my spiel and they get on. The mother sits next to Lucius and he hands her a smoothie. The father sits next to me. The kids rush to the escalator that takes them to the upper level.

"Hello, I am Sirius Black and this is Lucius Malfoy, Marcus Lexington and Narcissa Black. We have more people joining us and more stops to make. Please help yourself to refreshments."

He looks me up and down. He is a nice looking African American gentleman.

"Is this for real? I mean it has to be because all of us would not have had the same dreams, but how am I supposed to let Junior go away to boarding school?" I know just how he feels.

"So, your name is Christopher also? Look, Topher, I have a child going to Hogwarts, too and I know that you will miss them, but you can call him at night and he will write to you. Every weekend he can visit you if you want. I am on the school board and we got that approved."

He relaxes some and sits back. I send a stinging hex at Lucy and he stops flirting with Laura, the mother.

At the next stop Little Luna gets on board with a set of twins and she has Hannah with her. The girls are accompanied by their mother who has the same straight black hair. I know their names are Hope and Faith Windsor and their mother must be Destiny. No wonder Luna wanted to be their guide.

"Hello, Miss Windsor. I am Sirius Black. Please have a seat and take a refreshment." She nods at me and sits by the window near Cissa.

"Do the children really get scholarships?" I hand her a booklet and nod.

"Yup. Please do not worry. I see that you are wearing your chain. We will pick up the rest of our passengers. Hold on!"

I tap Arthur and he takes off again, and we are thrown back a little bit in our seats. He is having way too much fun with this assignment, but then again so am I.

* * *

 **Sebastian POV**

I come to the assigned location for Carlton Stone and knock on the door. A tired looking woman answers the door.

"Yes?" I clear my throat.

"I am here to pick up Mr. Stone for his orientation and the cookout. Are you his mother?" She tries to smile, but a yawn takes over.

"Sorry. I work two jobs to support us. I am just a little beat. My name is Constance. Please come inside."

I step into a nice living room and wait with Constance.

"My name is Sebastian Prince. Is it just the two of you here, Miss Stone?" She nods and leans against the sofa.

I hand her a potion to take and she drinks it. Soon, she is more awake. "Oh, you can be my drug dealer anytime! I took that other potion and I have my necklace and I signed all of the forms. They disappeared!" I smiled at her.

"That is normal, Miss Stone."

She looks towards the stairs as we hear running and banging footsteps.

"My Carlton will be right down. He keeps changing his clothes. I am so glad that he is magical. I thought he was possessed or something. Every time his deadbeat of a father would visit, the man would leave here with boils all over his arms and legs." I laugh.

"He did tend to insult me quite a bit. He steers clear of us nowadays, though. Good riddance. I did not even have to do the ritual from my great grandmother's book. She was a little out there, but her rituals always worked."

Interesting. She must be descended from squibs.

"When we go to the bank, you and Carlton will be given a heritage test. You may have vaults waiting for you to claim them." She blinks at me.

"Really? Nana always told me stories about unicorns and goblins and dragons. She made me believe that anything is possible, so I was not overly surprised when Carlton received his letter. I do have an account set up for his education. I always wanted to open my own bakery. Would you like a scone?"

She disappears and comes back with two steaming scones on a plate. They do smell divine. I taste one and I am delightfully surprised at all of the wonderful flavors that assault my senses.

I open my eyes to see her staring at me. "What?"

"You were moaning, Sebastian."

I blush. "You know, I would be happy to invest in your bakery even if you have vaults of your own, Miss Waters." She gets up and hugs me.

"Thank you!"

I make a call to Bloodfang and tell him about her. He tells me that he will make sure that she gets assigned to him when they come to the bank and we hang up.

"There, it is settled. The goblin in charge of my accounts will take you on and he will discuss everything with you." Finally, young Carlton comes down the stairs. He has longish dark brown hair and he is smiling.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I was finishing an experiment. I am ready! Will we fly on a broom today?"

"No, young man, not yet. I am Sebastian Prince. You may call me Mr. Prince. I will be one of your professors in the coming school year. Shall we go?"

There is an explosion upstairs and some of the plaster falls from the ceiling. I get up and fix it with a few quick spells.

"Maybe you should show me your experiment, Carlton."

He smiles weakly and avoids his mother's gaze. I follow him to his laboratory as it is labeled on the door and I see many test tubes and beakers all throughout the room. It smells like chocolate. I see a ruined and melted area and I vanish it with my wand.

"What was the experiment about?" He makes some notes in his notebook.

"I am trying to make a chocolate that is not fattening. Mum likes to bake, but she complains about the calories. I have been taking the chocolate apart so that I can isolate the components." He is reasonable intelligent.

"Mr. Stone, maybe we can discuss your research and a way to allow potions or magic to assist you in your endeavors."

"Wow! Really? That would be so great!"

"Yes, great. At present, though, we are on a schedule. Please let us go now."

He skips out of the room and I get them outside and I call the bus. It bangs into existence in front of us. I escort Carlton aboard and Sirius renames him C-Note. I call Jewel and tell her not to give him any more sugar for a while.

Constance sits in a love seat and asks can she take a quick nap. We all nod at her and she curls up with her little denim mini dress and covers herself with her robe and goes to sleep. The poor woman. I transfigure a handkerchief into a pillow and have Jewel put it under her head.

"Prince, do I have to watch you as well as Lucy?" I give Black a withering look.

"I am simply looking out for my new business partner. Taste this scone." I hand it to him and he moans as well. He actually lowers the volume on his music so that Miss Stone can sleep.

"That was wonderful. You watch out for her!"

I smile and sit back. The other parents nod at me and I see that they recognize me from the welcome booklet. Carlton takes the lift and it actually lifts him like he is weightless to the upper level. His giggles follow us to the next location.

Draco and Anthony get on with two young men that are related and their families and they walk right by us talking to the kids who are hanging on their every word. A woman and man who are older than me get onto the bus and look around.

Sirius gets them into recliners and he gives them smoothies and booklets to read. I look at his clipboard. They are the Sullivans and the boys are actually cousins named Isaac and Ivan. They were born a month apart and Ivan's parents died. There is a star that says the boys are rated 1st in their class and that they can turn into foxes already. Black will love them. I sit back and watch the scenery go by. We were getting a good batch of first years.

* * *

 **Marcus POV**

I stand before all of the parents, aunts and uncles. I am not nervous. I am good at speeches. I use the remote that Sirius gave to me to start the little movie clips that we made.

"Hello, everyone. I am Marcus Lexington and in the magical world, I am referred to as Lord Lexington. I have a nephew named Rhys and I have just adopted a young man who is starting Hogwarts this year named Mark." One woman is taking notes. I smile.

"The potions you took were to remove any harmful spells on you and to help you to keep the secrecy about magic. As family members, you know about magic, but we cannot have the public find out. Magic is real and it can be wonderful as well as terrible. We must be safe with it at all times."

"I know that this is all new to you, but we have provided you with the means to contact your children every day as well as to meet with them on the weekends. Your necklaces protect you from most harmful spells and they can call this bus. If you would take a look at this screen, we can show you what different sites in the magical world look like."

I press the button and show them Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Ottery St. Catchpole and Horizontal and Vertical Alleys. I stop the screen on a picture of Albus.

"If you take nothing else away from today, it should be that you do NOT trust this man. He is Albus Dumbledore and he is a power hungry, twinkly eyed, manipulative liar. Do not allow yourself to be alone with him. Call for Socks and he will come to your aid." They look alarmed. Good.

"Now, we will of course answer your questions all day and we will split up into groups to do your shopping. The first stop is at Gringott's bank and everyone will have plenty of time to handle their business. The tuitions for all of your children have been paid for by the Lily Flower Foundation. Your homes can also be warded so that your children will be able to safely practice magic during breaks. Ask about this at the bank."

I take a stack of Daily Prophets and pass them out.

"Please take a newspaper and read about the discounts you will receive today. If anyone gets separated from the group, please go to the coffee shop or the wand shop and call us on your mobile phone. After shopping, we are going to a cookout at Black Manor and games at Lexington Manor. Both of these are in Italy. Are there any questions?"

Several hands are raised. I nod at the woman who was asleep. "If I have a vault, shouldn't I pay my son's tuition myself?" I like her.

"Lord Black started the Lily Flower Foundation to honor friends of his that passed on. Trust me; he can afford to fund this endeavor. If you feel very strongly about this, though, you are welcome to argue the point with him at a later date." I point to Sirius who smiles a big smile and pets his puppy who he asked Jewel to bring to him.

Mrs. Granger stood up. "Are you saying that all this time, our daughter has been influenced by that horrid man? What can we do to save her?" I pat her arm.

"You have already done it, Mrs. Granger. You made sure that she took her potion and she is wearing her chain. She will no longer be influenced by him and neither will you." She sighs with relief and sits down.

The next question comes from a woman who looks like she could be a cousin to Miss Luna with her dreamy expression.

"Can they wear what they want or must they always wear this uniform?" Sirius is jumping up and down. I sigh and let him answer the question.

"The kids can wear what they want outside of class, but during classes, they must wear the uniform. I have a book I wrote listing the many loopholes to rules at Hogwarts. It is on sale at Flourish and Blott's." He sits back down.

I point to the distinguished looking black man and he stands up, but he still holds onto the railing. Arthur Weasley is driving like a demon.

"Is the curriculum diverse? What about the courses my boy is currently studying? I want a well-rounded education for him. Just because he has magical powers does not mean that he should not learn Algebra and Biology."

I take a deep breath, but Lucius gives me a look. Fine. He stands up.

"Mr. Turk, the classes you mention are not on the curriculum, but during the summers, we will have condensed classes that your children have missed in the non-magical world and they will receive credit for them. By the time they have graduated from Hogwarts, they will also have their high school diplomas."

Mr. Turk nods at Lucius. "How much is this?" Lucius smiles.

"It was a program that the Scorpius Foundation underwrote. There is no cost as long as the children have at least an Acceptable or a C on their classes at Hogwarts. It is a day school that only takes a half day for eight weeks in the summer. I assure you that your children will still prosper and learn about your world as well as ours." He sits down. Well said.

Mr. Turk smiles. "Thank you. I appreciate you explaining that to me." He sits down. As I explain that we will not melt with water, we do not pull rabbits out of hats and that yes, I can read their minds, but that I will not because it is rude, I wonder how the kids are doing on the upper level.

* * *

 **Rhys POV**

I think that things are going smoothly. We have 16 kids with us and their siblings. I lean back in my seat and wave at Mark and Tara. They are playing exploding snap. We have music playing and we have refreshments. I let Neville do the presentation and he was very good. Susan and Hannah were vigilant. I laughed and told them to calm down because these were eleven year olds.

We showed them Quidditch and one of our kickball games and they took a virtual tour of Hogwarts given by Pappy and Letty and they loved it. We gave them their booklets and told them about Dumbledore and that he was like a crazy old man that always wanted to give away candy and to avoid him. Everyone promised. We showed them what Diagon Alley looked like, what a goblin looked like and we told them to be nice to the house elves.

Right now, we were broken up into groups and we were playing games. Every time we went up a hill and back down, we raised our hands in the air. Nothing on our tables was ever disturbed by this. Mr. Weasley is having a ball with this! Sirius made the announcement that we would be stopping at the Leaky Cauldron in five minutes.

I looked over at Luna and her little fans Hope and Faith. They were playing Twister, but the colors kept moving. She was so silly sometimes. I waved at her as she showed them the restroom. We got everyone ready to go into the alley. Today would be fun and I promised them that we could do go karts after the cookout. All of them cheered. It was nice to be liked for something that I did and not famous for having a mark on my face.

* * *

 **Bloodfang POV**

I clear my throat and address everyone. This was my idea, so all successes will reflect on my clan. I have Miss Delacour and Miss Tonks Black taking notes for me. They are good workers for human. They need breaks. I make them take their lunch breaks in the time room so that it does not disrupt the flow of my day and it seems like a good compromise. Of course they still refuse to work past 7pm, but I am sure that they will change their minds soon. I can be a very persuasive goblin.

"Today, we will have the wizards and witches sign in at the front door and they will be given a parchment that assigns them to the goblin handling their accounts. Do not be afraid to call for assistance and try not to scare the little first years. They will grow into adults that make decisions and we want a good relationship with the wizards. Refer the ones that need it to the healers and try to have fun."

They nod and grunt. Good.

"Lady Black has supplied mobile phones with the cost coming out of the Black vaults for all first year students. All others will be charged to the Slytherin accounts. The winner of the most new accounts will receive a sword fashioned from basilisk teeth as a trophy. Go forth and may your feet be bathed in the blood of your enemies."

They all cheer and I follow my lovely assistants to my office.

"Look witches, send the children and adults to the healers as a family and the other of you will escort them into my office after you call up the files listed on their parchments. Remember you will receive 2% of what I get in fees today." They both smile and nod. Good.

My first customer is Miss Granger. I sigh. No one wanted her account, so I took it. She is smart so she can be guided in the right direction. I want to be the one to do that guiding. She sits down and she looks shell shocked. Her parents are with her and they look calm.

"Miss Granger, it would seem that you are descended from Hector Dagworth-Granger. He was a master potioneer. Please sign these forms to activate your three vaults. This makes you a halfblood. Here is your medallion."

I hand her a golden 5 and she puts it onto her chain. It will change as she matriculates with each year. Once she graduates Hogwarts, it will change to her last initial. She shows the forms to her parents and they sign as well after they read it.

"So, can I please have warding done at our house, Bloodfang and can I have a mobile phone?" I make a note and I hand her a mobile phone. She smiles a big smile.

"Do you want to sign up for next summer's muggle catchup school?" She looks interested, so I hand her the paperwork on it. She rushes to show her parents and they all sign the papers.

"Look, little witch, time is money. Do you want to trust me to manage your accounts or do you want me to read everything to you? I can send you summary every month. You can be shopping right now." She perks up and nods at her parents.

"Sure, I will trust you. Thank you, Bloodfang. I feel so much better! Um, can you make sure that only me or my parents can get into my vaults?" She looks ashamed. Good.

"Of course, Miss Dagworth-Granger. Here is a card that you can use in the muggle world and a money purse. Please place a drop of blood on it and only you will be able to use it."

She follows my directions and I tell her that she cannot have my books and she leaves.

My next customer is a Miss Stone. She comes in with her son, Carlton. They are descended from the Greystone family. I give them their information and she signs the papers to open a business with Lord Prince as an investor. I hand over the medallion and money purse and debit card to them and she begs me to ward her house and to take over her muggle accounts as well. I like her. Her scones are delicious.

Next I get Miss Clearwater and her cousin Miss Georgina Hanes. Miss Hanes is descended from the Goyle family. This makes me have to retest Miss Clearwater and she is actually from a distant branch of the Crabbe family. I call the Lords of both families and they are thrilled to have more family. Miss Hanes actually already graduated Hogwarts and she is looking for employment.

By the time they had left, they had already hired her to work at their new art gallery. They were running it in the muggle world and they would restore the art themselves. Both men were thrilled that their small repertoire of spells would prove to be lucrative.

I nodded and smiled and agreed to be their new account manager. I looked at the scoreboard and I was beating, but barely. I needed some more clients! I had to beat Griphook. He was so smug with his list of referrals. I hope he gets Molly Weasley. He would deserve her!

Lord Black comes in with a nice little witch and I get Miss Tara LeFey signed up quicker than a dragon would roast a thief. She has 15 old vaults! The wealth that she inherited does not even make her blink. She asks for enough to go shopping and I hand over a money wallet. She thanks me. She takes her medallion and babbles about the things that she will buy and I make Lord Black sign some forms. I grin when he signs a certain one. Heh heh. They leave without prompting. Nice. I need to see about getting a revolving door.

Next, Lord Lexington sweeps in with his new son, Mark. He holds out his hand and takes the stack of forms to sign. I have him trained so well.

"Mr. Evans, you are descended from the Evans line and that is actually a dormant and wealthy magical line. You have 10 vaults. Here is your Hogwarts medallion. Maybe you can come back later this week to take a tour of your vaults. You will need your guardian to come with you. Today is not a good time, you understand." He smiles at me.

"Do you really kill like trolls and evil sorcerers?" I shake my head.

"I have been forbidden to discuss that with first year students. Here is your debit card and your money wallet. Place a drop of blood on it. Just one drop is needed. Lord Lexington, heal him. Give me back that knife, young wizard. Good. Okay, give me the forms and get out. May your enemies wither and die beneath your sword."

I do not make eye contact with Lord Lexington. I put his forms into the out bin and wave them away. Lord Lexington pulls his son away from me. I hope the girls are selling my tee shirts. They had such catchy slogans:

Money ain't a thing

Bloodfang: Let me Upgrade you

Money in the bank

Money money money money….MONEY!

Mo money, mo money, mo money

I can make it rain

I had to allow Lord Black a gratuity, but I know my slogans are funny. The backs of the shirts have the Gringott's emblem on them! I grin a predatory grin and wait for my next customer. I check the scoreboard. I am winning!

* * *

 **Draco Black POV**

I was waiting for Rhys at the coffee shop with the Sullivans. They had four vaults total in their family and they were thrilled. I really like Isaac and Ivan. They are like mini mes with their blonde hair! I had to tell them not to act all stuck up and not to believe everything that was in a book without research.

Their parents were somewhere with mother and father. I think that mother took Mrs. Sullivan and a few other ladies to a salon to get their manicures and pedicures done. They promised to meet us for the wand choosing later. Mother promised to call.

I have a feeling that Father took the men to the arcade in Hogsmeade. He said he had no desire to be trampled upon and he was not going into the prank shop. He said to call him when we were ready to go to the pet store. He was hilarious.

I was enjoying my latte and talking to Isaac about how wonderful Slytherin house was, when I was disturbed. How dare that Weasel interrupt my sales pitch! Rhys had suggested that the kids could talk to the hat and I needed all of the Slytherins I could get. We had a bet going on and the bookworms were winning.

"So you see, Zack, we have the best Quidditch team and our mascot is a snake. We will have parties every weekend and we have a tutoring program. There is also the kickball team. And best of all, I am a Slytherin!" They laughed.

"No one wants to be a slimy Slytherin like you, Malfoy! Leave those firsties alone!" I sigh and drink my drink.

"Good afternoon, Weasley. Boys, this is Ronald Weasley. He is a Gryffindor and he will be a fifth year like me."

Once they see how he acts, they will not want to be lions. He picks up a cookie from our table and eats it like he has no manners. How dare he! I keep my cool and smile. It is just a cookie.

"I went to the bank and they made me take potions. I feel the same, mostly. Why are these first years with you, Malfoy?" He is sweaty and he keeps eating our snacks. I sigh. Is he really hungry? It would not be civilized to hex him in public like this. Why is he still so immature?

"I am one of their guides, Weasley. I will show them around today and then at school, they can come to me with any questions. I am sure that you would not like to join us. You must have so much to do. Do not miss the coupons in the Prophet."

He grabs another two cookies and eats them at the same time. I look at Zack and Ivan and they look horrified. Weasley next grabs my brownie. My poor first years. They look at him and shudder. He is wearing a hot assed jumper in this heat. The fool does not even realize that he is sweating. I look around for assistance and wink at Angelina Johnson. She comes over with a wiggle to her walk.

"Hey there, Ron. Come with me to the robe shop and we will get you a Gryffindor tee shirt. You look overheated in that sweater. I know your mum made it for you, but it is a hot day. Come along now. Leave the nice Slytherin alone."

He follows behind her like a crup. She is wearing a tee shirt and a mini skirt and those high shoes. Nope. I love Tory.

"Whew. That was a close one, boys. We almost had to endure his many, many insults as well as his bad manners. Here comes Rhys. Let's go to the trunk shop first. Today will be a blast!" I leave a galleon on the table for a tip and we begin our day of shopping. At least people like him cannot come to our cookout later.

 _ **A/N This is the end of part one of August 1st. Thanks!**_


	19. Chapter 19 August first Part two

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian. The former dark lord is now referred to as Marcus. This is a continued chapter and it is part two of the day.**

 **Thank you so much to all of you that have favorited or marked my story for an alert. I welcome all reviews and comments. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **Amelia Bones POV**

Corey had told me that even though it was a Saturday, I had work to do. I was to see and be seen out in the Alleys. He had approved my orange and white sundress with a light orange ruffled outer robe. My hair was in flowing waves held up by a diamond comb that was gifted to me by Evan. He had confided to me that Cally, his house elf had recommended it as a courting gift for me. I love her! She always bosses him around.

I compromised with Corey and decided to have lunch with Evan at the Dragonfly. We breezed into the inn and we were greeted by a friendly house elf with a nametag stating that his name was Jinx.

"Welcome to the Dragonfly. I am Jinx. Do you have any packages that you may need shipped to your home? We offer that service and we check for harmful spells. The cost is one galleon."

That sounds great and Evan nods and hands over the galleon. We find out that our bags from the Kutie Kiosk had charms to spy on us as they were merely knick knacks that we thought were adorable and would sit onto a shelf. We had those removed.

I had a chastity charm on me set to zap anyone touching me intimately. I kept that one, much to Evan's chagrin. I also kept my beauty charms.

Evan had a tracking charm placed by his cousin. I was in no mood to meet Drucilla Rosier. To be quite frank, she sounded like a bitch. Cally told my house elf Bray that she was a nosey witch. We had that charm placed onto a passerby that just happened to be Albus Dumbledore. Heh heh.

Jinx showed us to our table and Evan sat next to me in the booth. Suddenly flash bulbs went off and dots danced before my eyes. Was this going to happen to me all day?

"Hello, Madam Minister. Rita Skeeter here! You are looking quite fetching in that dress! Would you care to comment on the surge in businesses and the growth of our economy?"

I look at Rita. She winks at me.

"Rita, I believe that all witches and wizards have skills to offer and they should seek employment at many of our new establishments." She grins and leans in close like she is telling me a secret.

"Is this the wizard that is courting our Minister for Magic? My, my, you are a handsome one, Mr. Rosier." Evan cleared his throat.

"Actually Miss Skeeter, I plan to become betrothed with the lovely Amelia as soon as possible. She is a dynamic witch and I would be a fool to let her go."

Rita practically swoons. "Excellent, Mr. Rosier! My readers just adore a love story. Have a magical day!"

She whisks her photographer away and leaves me alone. We have a delicious lunch and many people stop by to remark on my dress or my hair.

"You are quite beautiful, Amelia, and I meant what I said. I have fallen in love with you. Will you consider a betrothal with me seriously?"

I blink at him. "I want you to spend some time with Sue and I guess I have to meet your cousin before we sign anything. Just forward your contract to Bloodfang with a copy to Corvus."

He sighs and kisses my hand. "Yes, dear." He is so agreeable. Before removing my hand from his lips, he nibbles on my fingertips. I blush profusely.

"Behave, Evan, before you get zapped." He laughs.

My phone rings. "Yes, Corey?"

"Miss Ammy, the headmaster has missed the deadline officially. I sent out a letter offering the DADA job to Jeffrey Jones. He was recommended by Penny who got it from Lucius Malfoy. Can you sign the letter to the headmaster that I have sent with my elf?"

The elf popped in and I signed the letter and thanked him and he left.

"I signed it Corey. What about the book list?" He was always right, so I figured he had a solution to this.

"The elves will deliver the books to the students. Mr. Jones is donating them. Okay, I am going to the new salon Oasis and getting a pedicure. They have massage spells! See you!"

He hung up and I laughed at him. We paid our bill and decided to change our clothes and go flying on Evan's hippogriffs. We left hand in hand and the flashbulbs did not bother me at all.

* * *

 **Albus Dumbledore POV**

I had just returned from Diagon Alley. I think I may have that muggle condition called narcolepsy. According to many people, I fall asleep a lot.

I went to Ollivander's to talk to him about Priori Incantantum and I had to take a number. Then, he would not tell me what I wanted to know and he was selling the most outrageous tee shirts. I tried to convince him to take down his display and I guess I fell asleep. Several times, I had to duck Rita Skeeter. She wants an interview or something. I do not have time for her.

I cannot worry about that now. I was at the Burrow. We were having a short meeting of the order which is mostly just the Weasleys now, except Arthur, who has an assignment in the muggle world to handle today.

For a while, I let others have the floor. Molly complains about the wait at the bank and that Ron and Ginny had no hidden heritage. She does confirm that there were many giveaways that day.

"Now, now Molly. It is a good thing that your family can save some money. I have some things to discuss. In order to align myself with the purebloods, I am introducing a new bill to make the muggleborns pay a higher tuition."

They look at me in shock. "But Albus!" Molly is so dramatic. I wave off her concern.

"Sadly, some sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

I fold my hands together. "I have just received a letter from the Ministry. I have missed the deadline to choose a DADA teacher. I plan to let the ministry to appoint a teacher for defense hoping that they will send in an incompetent DADA teacher so the children cannot learn too much."

At this point, only Molly and Daedalus Diggle are nodding along with me.

"Lastly, I have a special bracelet that I want to put onto Harry Potter when he comes to school that will make him unable to leave undetected again."

Remus and Kingsley seem distracted. A throat is cleared loudly. Alastor steps forward. He still has not forgiven me for allowing him to live as a captive in his own trunk for a whole school year. I said I was sorry. What more does he want from me?

"I got a letter from Harry Potter and that he convinced me to donate wand holsters to all of the kids in conjunction with the Lily Flower Foundation." His voice sounds gruff and we all smile and nod at him.

"That is very generous of you, Alastor. Did Harry say where he was or anything?" He shakes his head no. Dammit!

There is a knock on the door and Molly answers it. She comes bustling back inside with Rita Skeeter. How did she know I would be here?

"Headmaster Dumbledore! How wonderful to see you! Have you been following my column on your early political years?"

I smile at her like she is a small child. "Yes, they were enchantingly nasty as usual."

"Yes, well the reason that I am here is to offer you a chance to give me a quote for my new book, 'Albus Dumbledore: The man behind the twinkly mask.'"

I stare at her and use legilmency and a compulsion charm on her to make her not want to write about me. I wake up on the couch.

"Albus, are you alright? You just passed out."

Flashbulbs go off and I blink to get my eyesight back.

"Maybe you should give me an exclusive, Headmaster! Are you getting too old to hold your post at Hogwarts? My readers want to know!"

I sit up and use legilmency on her and I black out. I wake up on the couch again and sigh. How come I keep passing out? It is all I can do to escape Molly's well-meaning clutches and I return to the castle. I am getting too old for this dragon dung.

* * *

 **Minerva McGonagall POV**

"Minnie, this ship is so large and the people are simply wonderful!"

Poppy has not stopped gushing. Irma had left a series of notes for Letty with suggestions to update the library and we had to pull her away. She cleaned up nicely though. We are all wearing our bikini tops and bottoms with thin skirts as cover-ups. Mine was red.

It was a beautiful day and I was lying back in this lounge chair drinking a mimosa. Pomona was with us as well. All I could think about was that I did not have to schlep kids back and forth and give their families the same speeches over and over again.

I had called Sirius Black and he had promised me that he was supervising things and that he was helping Lucius Malfoy. I did not call Lucius because he has started flirting with me. Sirius said that Lucius was just nervous because his wedding was coming up.

I suppose I can forgive the scamp. I do look good. He had told me that he had it going on and did I want to see if his pimp hand was strong. I had told him to behave himself before I broke his little cane in two and I was not talking about the one he walked with, either. He had apologized, but still.

We got drinks sent over to us by some handsome gentlemen across the deck and Poppy got up to thank them. She was such a shameless flirt, but then again, I am free of children today. I should enjoy myself. I raised my glass and toasted a distinguished looking gentlemen across the way. He blew me a kiss and I blushed. These men were scandalous! Where is Pomona? I have to put a leash on these women!

* * *

 **Hermione Granger POV**

My parents were acting strangely. It is kind of my fault. Every summer, I barely spend any time with them, and now I was waiting for Ron to meet me and I was alone. Just because I tried to use compulsion charms on them to give me a larger allowance is no reason to get cross with me!

I did not receive a warning note from Mafalda Hopkirk, but I did get a zing from their protective necklaces. My mother had looked so disappointed in me. If she only knew that I had taken books that did not belong to me before they were claimed again.

In the end, Mum and Dad said that I can only have ten galleons a month as spending money from my newly established trust vault. My parents left to go to a barbeque at some friend's home and told her that they would be back late.

I cannot believe all of the discounts that are available through the alley today. Ron walks up to me looking like he has been arguing with someone. Why am I friends with him? Oh yeah, because Professor Dumbledore said that we make good friends of Harry Potter.

"Hey, Hermy, let's go. I have five galleons and I want to look around. Let's get my free stuff first. If you are nice to me, I will carry your bags for you."

What a generous and chivalrous offer. We can have our purchases shrunk. How is it a hardship for me to carry my own bags?

I see Anthony Goldstein and Megan Jones walk by with a couple of first year students. They are all wearing tee shirts and they look so excited. They are obviously showing the younger kids around the alley. They laugh and then the kids make calls on their mobile phones. I am so glad I finally got one.

Draco Malfoy walks by and he actually pulls his group away from us. Why is he avoiding me? I look cute today! I am wearing my Gryffindor tee shirt and capri pants and a red open robe. I still did not look as carefree as Daphne Greengrass. She floated on by with Blaise Zabini holding her hand. Her hair actually bounces when she walks.

"Come on, Hermy! We need to get away from here. There are too many slimy Slytherins around! The owner of the shop should ban them!"

I sigh and look at Ron, who is wearing a jumper that his mother knit for him that has a huge chocolate stain on it. It is too hot for that sweater. He is sweating, too. I cast a cooling charm on him and we leave the shop. We walk down the road and I feel a hand rubbing my bum. I grab the hand and it belongs to none other than Ronald Weasley. That pig!

"Ronald Weasley, what is wrong with you?! Never touch me like that again!"

I send a voice modifying charm at him and hope that it will work.

"But Hermy, Mum said we belong together!" He sounds like a damned chipmunk.

"I do not care what your mother told you! Do not call me Hermy! My name is Hermione Dagworth-Granger. Say it right! If you ever touch me like that again, I will hex your bullocks off!"

He turns red and storms away. Whatever.

I hear applause and turn to see Fred and George Prewett. Great, this is just what I need. To be mocked in stereo.

"What's this, Gred? It would seem that the Golden Trio is really broken up." He turns to Fred.

"Forge, I saw it with my own eyes, I did. Poor Harry. These two don't get along and they don't even miss him, do they?" George grins an evil grin at me.

"I bet they miss the spotlight. Oi, Colin!" No, not Colin!

Colin Creevy comes bouncing out of their shop and smiles at them.

"Hey Fred and George. What's up?"

They point at me. Why have I not just left by now? Because if you turn your back on the Twins, you deserve everything you get. I was so excited to be a prefect, too.

"This is Miss Dagworth-Granger. She has just had a fight with Ronald Weasley. You know the chap. Short temper. Never met a plate of food he didn't love. Sidekick of Harry Potter. Take a picture for the new school newspaper."

Colin whips out his camera and takes four pictures of me. I turn and run. How humiliating!

I run into that dishy wizard and he is with another older gentleman. He looks like he is maybe in his late 40s.

"Pardon me, Miss. Do you need help with your bags?"

I just stare into his handsome face and dazzling smile. A voice from behind me makes me jump in surprise.

"Hello, Rhys dear. Hello, Hermione Dagworth-Granger. You look like you have Pufflelumps. Did you know that this is my betrothed? I will defend what is mine. I am a Ravenclaw. We have our own library, so I know lots of useful spells."

The boy laughs and kisses her gently.

"Now, Lu. Calm down. Miss Granger cannot help that she fell down. I was just helping her to pick up her bags. There is no need for you to hex her. You know what we said when we did our betrothal ceremony."

She perks up and giggles.

"Oh, you are right. I am being silly. I have to go. I will see you in a little while. You can feed me lunch. Come along Hope and Faith." She skips away with two little first years skipping with her.

"You will have to excuse Luna. She is quite possessive." The older gentleman sighs.

"I like her. I was looking forward to seeing a witch fight. It is always the quiet ones." The young handsome guy laughs.

"Uncle Marcus, you are too old for the both of them. You are like 70 or something."

He ducks an aguamenti and a color changing charm and does a backflip. Wow.

"Fine, maybe your official age is 50, Great Uncle Marcus, but you do not look a day over 45. Is that better?"

The older man glowers at him and nods slightly.

"I am Rhys and this is my Great Uncle Marcus. I just call him Uncle Marcus and this is Mark Evans. Tara and Sirius are still inside the Bangle Hut looking at jewelry. Do have a nice rest of the day."

I nod and walk away from them.

Across the way, I spot Ginny Weasley in a very short skirt with no outer robe strutting down the road with her hair loose and a tee shirt that says "My Goodies". Oh, Merlin! That girl is asking for trouble.

Why am I friends with her anyway, I wonder as I watch Sirius Black and a young girl with purple hair exit a shop and pose for pictures by an invisible photographer. They call their house elves and their bags are taken away. What?

* * *

 **Rhys POV**

I have fun kissing Lu every time we see each other during this shopping trip, but she is having fun with Hope and Faith. I think it is nice that she has disciples. Shopping with Mark, Tara, Marcus and Sirius has been fun, especially what just happened with Granger. What? Why is she coming back?

"Excuse me? Why do you have house elves? Don't you realize that they are being enslaved? How could you, Sirius Black? You are definitely a bad influence!"

Wow. I stepped back and pulled Mark and Tara out of the way. Marcus started humming "Y'all gone make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here." I tune him out to pay attention to Sirius. Sirius turned into Lord Black on Hermione. I almost felt sorry for her.

"I am the Lord Black and for this coming school year, I will be Professor Black. Do not presume that you know everything because you met two house elves. One of them was treated so badly that he wanted to be set free and the other had been without a master or work to do for so long, he was going crazy. It is common knowledge in the magical world that house elves need to work for their magic to flow. They love working. Do you think that they are helpless creatures or something? Jewel?"

Jewel popped in wearing her dress and apron and gloves on her hands and a scarf on her head.

"Master Sirius, I gave you the list to use for today. I am working on the wine. Do you really need help?" Sirius smiles at her.

"Why are you wearing clothes? Are you freed?" Jewel looks at Hermione.

"You poor little clueless witch! Do you want to run around with no clothes on in public? Neither do I. I wear what I want and Master Sirius knows better than to fire Jewel." Sirius hugs Jewel.

She changes his hair to blonde and hands him a mirror. He cracks up laughing and she changes it back.

He turns to Hermione. "You have been in the magical world for four years. Do you really think you know more than the rest of us? You cannot free a house elf. Only their master can and the intent has to be there. It can be clothes or something else that represents their firing. Do your research, Miss Granger and the next time you talk to me like I am an errant school boy, I will send a letter to your parents. You do not want to start a blood feud do you?"

She shakes her head and apologizes quietly before leaving. I guess he told her. Marcus is not pleased.

"Black, you could have made her your slave or something useful. Maybe she will appreciate a nice hair severing charm for that bushy mess." He takes aim at her head and I grab Marcus' wand arm and call for Wheezy, the next elf on the list.

"Yes, Mister Rhys? What can Wheezy do for you?" He is wearing a tee shirt that said "Thug Life" and cargo shorts and sneakers.

"Will you bring a brownie for my uncle? One of Socks' special brownies?"

He nods and pops away. He comes back and I whisper in parseltongue for Marcus to eat it all and to chill out. It is like he is having violence withdrawal. I am glad I am not with Drake and his dad. He was flirting with all of the moms, so Drake took him to the arcade. He will meet me at Ollivander's.

After Marcus told me about what happened at Gringott's and I sent a letter from Harry Potter to Mark through Bloodfang explaining that they both have the Evans vaults, but that Harry is emancipated, so Mark will have a trust vault until he reached majority. Marcus told Mark that he will have an allowance every month as well.

Tara and Sirius are very much alike being wild and free. It is hard work corralling them around. They chase the poor Creevy brothers around and when we see Rita Skeeter, they give an interview about being long lost family. Rita loves it.

By the time we get to Ollivander's where we have to take a number and wait outside, I am beat. We watch the charmed mannequins model different tee shirts and wand holsters and it is a nice display. I do not even care what is in Mark's wand. I am just glad to finish the shopping so we can take the rowdy Lord Black home. He needs a freaking nap.

* * *

 **Neville Longbottom POV**

I love showing Jamie and Macy around with Hannah and Susan. I tell them that yes, I know Harry Potter, but that Harry is just a normal wizard like everyone else. Today has been pretty tame. I got calls from Rhys and Draco that Sirius and Lucius were driving them crazy. I am glad that I am not them. My mobile rings and I answer it while I wait for the four girls to shop in the pet store.

"Hello?"

"Neville, have you seen your parents today?" What?

"No, Gran." She sighs.

"They were supposed to meet me for breakfast, but all I received was a note saying that they were doing their bucket list and that they loved me and that they would see me at the cookout. I am calling to let you know that they are not averse to public canoodling. If you see them, give them a calming draught or something. I caught them in the greenhouses last night." Not my plants!

"Thanks, Gran."

"Try to keep them out of the Prophet, Neville." Oh Godric!

Just then, all four girls come out of the pet store and Jamie and Macy have owls. I show them how to send them home and we pass my parents sitting on a bench making out. I hustle us by them after setting up a notice me not charm. I call for Homie, who is a nice elf. He shows up wearing a tee shirt that says "Homie Don't Play that". He is so funny.

"Yes, Master Neville?" I sigh.

"Listen, can you watch out for my parents today? They are doing a kind of treasure hunt or something. I don't want them in the papers." He nods and winks at me.

"They is being trying to get you some little brothers and sisters, Master Neville. Not to worry. Homie will watch out for them."

I shake my head and walk away with my group. I feel like I need a hug, so I put my arm around Susan. She leans her head on my shoulder. Is that Ginny Weasley? What is she wearing and why is she acting like she is for sale? I call Mr. Weasley and tell him the deal. He says that he will take care of it. Cool. I need a brownie.

* * *

 **Sirius Black POV**

The kids were playing volley ball and riding the hippogriffs and it was a lively afternoon. The food was amazing, which I had told my elves. I was chilling with Jane Granger, Hestia and Cissy. They were talking about kids and since I have one now, I had to get in on this.

Jane was shaking her head. "And then, she tried to hex us! What am I going to do with her?" I know the answer to that one. You hex them back! Cissy smiled and pat her hand.

"Jane, calm down. You have the protective chain on, and your home is being warded. If I panicked everytime Draco tried to hex me growing up, I would be in a mental institution. The key is to ground them and take away what they like. With Draco, that was easy because he was extremely materialistic. I blame Lucius for that. He never told him no. It will be alright, dear. Drink your mimosa."

"That's nothing. Megan almost had a tantrum to be able to stay at Rhys' manor this summer. I simply told her that unless I was invited, she was not going, whether Hannah and Susan were going or not. It turned out okay. Being around the kids has lifted her spirits from what happened to the Diggory boy. And they are learning dueling."

Lucius comes pimp walking over and kisses Cissy like they are alone. I count to five and send ice cold water at him. He calms down. I have Marcus watching Frank and Alice. They are outlandish! I saw their bucket list and I want to make one with Hestia. I look around and my jaw drops. Reggie just arrived with a drop dead beautiful girl.

"Hello, big brother! This is Fleur Delacour and she just got off work. She is from France and she was a triwizard champion last school year."

What? Did he just tell me that he has a French, barely graduated from school Veela on his arm, and she has a job! I hate him. I stand and welcome her as Lord Black. She smiles and the menfolk get loopy for a few seconds before their chains kick in.

"It is good to see you, Miss Delacour. Harry speaks well of you." She perks up.

"I miss 'arry! I hope he is doing okay." Damn and she has an accent? Sebastian comes over.

"Reggie, did you hear the good news? Jeffrey is going to be the new DADA professor. It will be a welcome addition to the staff, unlike some."

He cuts his eyes at me. Just because I charmed the floor tiles in his lab to say 'Snivellous' yesterday, he acts irked. He has no sense of humor.

"That is great news, Sebastian! This is Fleur Delacour, my date." Sebastian kisses her hand and she giggles. Whatever.

"If you will all excuse me, I need to check on the kids." I know when I am not wanted. I cannot believe my brother has a veela girlfriend!

Hestia waves me away while she continues to trade horror stories with Jane and Cissy. I spot Fred and George and I tackle them. We roll around and when we stop, I am a dog and they are coyotes. Isaac and Ivan see us and turn into foxes. Wow. We bark and chase each other and Blackie comes out. I should have stayed with the kids anyway. They are more my speed. This is the most fun ever!


	20. Chapter 20

**This is my first attempt at writing a long Harry Potter fic. I do not own JK Rowling's characters. This will follow cannon loosely. I have a weird sense of humor, so sorry if you are not amused.**

 **Harry will now be referred to as Rhys and Snape is now Sebastian. The former dark lord is now referred to as Marcus.**

 **Thank you so much to all of you that have favorited or marked my story for an alert. I welcome all reviews and comments.**

 **Speaking of reviews, of course I am American. It is listed on my profile.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

 **Rhys POV**

We strolled around the grounds instead of using a golf cart or riding a broom and I held her hand. The sun had just risen and she was excited about our day of fun. I had told the guys and Sirius that I was spending the day with Lu doing little couple things because soon we would be off to Disney World and school. I promised that we would answer the mobile phones, but that was it.

I looked over at Lu in her flowing yellow sundress and cute wedge heels. She had a headband in her hair. I conjured a yellow and white rose and handed it to her. She blushed and tucked it behind her ear.

"So, now can we eat breakfast?" She giggled.

"Yes, Rhys. Thank you for spending time with me like this. I know we promised to get married and all of that one day, but I still want to do fun things with you."

She was so sweet. I took out our blanket and enlarged it as it fell to the soft grass. Lu took out the shrunken basket and set it out. I called for Socks. He popped in wearing ear buds and dancing to a song about champagne and his tee shirt said "Touch it". How could he hear me with those on?

"Master Rhys, when you call, I can feel your magic wanting me. It has nothing to do with my hearing. Do you want something or not? The Hogwarts house elves are letting us redo the dorms while they work on the crops. While I have you here, please record the parseltongue password with this crystal that I got from Bloodfang. We want to start on the Chamber now."

He said all of that while he was dancing. I recorded my voice saying open and close in parseltongue and I noticed that Lu shivered a little. Heh heh. Well, I have almost a whole year before I can try that particular delicacy.

"Yes, Socks. Can you give us our beverages now? We both want hot tea and orange juice. Thank you."

He placed the crystal into one of his many pockets with a flourish and gave us the drinks and popped away.

"Mittens was almost insubordinate just now. We may have to punish him by making him watch "Willy Wonka", Rhys." I laughed at her.

"Lu, he is not letting you change his name and he would love to watch it and do not give him any ideas. I do not want the grounds to suddenly be edible or made of candy. Merlin help us if they made us a chocolate river!"

She giggled even more and we fed each other breakfast burritos and fruit. It was nice. I cannot wait until Lu sees where we go next. She is going to love the zoo.

* * *

 **Lucius Malfoy POV**

"What are you doing here, Lucius?" She looked surprised to see me. I had sent her an owl, a text and three roses.

"Cissa, I wanted to have breakfast together and I had hoped we could spend time together today just the two of us."

She glared at me for a few minutes before smiling. She winked at me and dropped her dressing gown and I saw that she was wearing a Slytherin green mini dress that had no sleeves and showed off her charms quite nicely. Oh, Salazar, she was wearing those high shoes again. I gripped the handle of my cane tighter. She was such a siren.

"You look amazing, my love." She blushed and her hair covered her face for a moment. It was all curly. She did not look like the mother of a fifteen year old.

"Lucius, snap out of it. Let us be going. Where are you taking me?" I took her hand and walked her to my new Ferrari. It was silver and Sirius had spent a whole day showing me how to work it. He added safety spells and charms to it just in case.

"We are going to eat and then I thought we could stop over in Spain for a show at that outside theater you enjoy so much, Cissa."

She smiled a huge smile at me. "Oh, Lucius, you have been listening to me!"

I took her hand and kissed it, but put it down to concentrate on driving this muggle vehicle. "Of course, darling. I told you that I have changed. I love and adore you, Cissa."

Just then her mobile phone rang.

"Yes, Draco dear? Oh, well you can just use the bus. I really do not think you should. Fine, if Sirius is there, then you may take Astoria to ride the hippogriffs. Be careful, Draco. Alright. Love you, too." She hung up.

I smiled to myself. At least he was not too prideful for the flying beasts to allow him to ride anymore. He had really matured over the summer, and it was mostly due to his friendship with Rhys. Of course my mobile had to ring at that exact moment. I pulled over to the side of the road and answered.

"Hello?"

"Lucius, is this a bad time?" Yes.

"What is going on, Marcus?" He sighed.

"Okay, so I am having a ball."

"That's nice, Marcus. You should have fun." Why was he bothering me with this?

"No, Lucius. I am holding a ball to announce myself to society. I am sure that they saw my name in the Prophet, but I thought I should do something more grand."

I do not have time to list all of the things that are wrong with this idea. "Marcus, you cannot have a ball. We need your claiming of your Slytherin seats to be a mystery. Why don't you just wait until Samhain Ball if you want to dress up?"

He sighed. "No, I want to announce my relationship with Rhys and Mark. Should I let him go with the other first years to the Shrieking Shack?" I sighed.

"Marcus, you can announce your relationship to the papers after Sebastian's wedding or my own. They are both this month. As for the Shrieking Shack, who is their chaperone or whatever?"

"The Prewett twins. They are taking all of the first years on a secret Hogwarts tour. They want to show them the inside view of Hogwarts that the teachers do not want you to know about. They have maps or something."

"What about Albus, Marcus?"

"Albus is at the ICW for the next two days to have a hearing to see if he will remain the representative for Britain. He is holding on to his Supreme Mugwump status by the skin of his teeth."

I smile at Cissa and hold her hand. "Well, I guess if the house elves will help them and the portraits promise not to tell Albus, it should be fine. Tell him to call you with any problems and give him a time to return home, Marcus."

He sighed with relief. "Okay, that sounds fine. Thank you for your advice, Lucius. I am sorry to have taken up your time. Have a good day." He hung up.

"Is everything okay, Lucius?" I smiled at Cissa. She leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"Yes dearest. I just gave Marcus some parenting advice. Let's enjoy our day, shall we?" I resumed my driving. I am so proud of myself! I have not had road rage one time. This day with my beautiful ex wife/wife to be was turning out well.

* * *

 **Albus Dumbledore POV**

I was sitting in the meeting room at the ICW trying to ignore Su Young, the witch that has had it out for me for decades. She simply does not recognize that I know what is best for the wizarding community. She is in cahoots with Michael Brooks, the rep from the United States. He is always preaching about modernization and blending in with the muggles.

I thought he was a kindred spirit at one point. I thought he wanted to reveal ourselves to the muggles and live with them, but he turned on me! He wants us to learn about muggles so that we can live amongst them without them knowing about magic.

The fool! They will find out one day. If I have my way, they will find out soon. I have nothing to worry about. Voldemort will go about causing mayhem and destruction, and then they will once again look to me for guidance. As it should be.

I looked up when Gianna Ricci, the rep from Italy called me to the front to make my speech. I do not like her, either. She allows too many things from muggle culture into her marketplace. She actually allows trade with muggles.

I step up to the podium and give a speech about banding together in times of war and finish it with the greater good. I smile my usual smile at them and wait for the applause and sparks to shoot from their wands. Nothing happened but silence.

Gianna lit her wand and I pointed to her. "Albus, we are not at war right now. You have a small dark lord problem, but besides one incident, what has really happened?"

She sits down and I hate her. The uppity witch!

I smile again. "We have proof that Voldemort is alive again, Madame Ricci. I am sure that you are old enough to remember the times that plagued us over a decade ago."

She smirked at me. "Actually, Albus, I am old enough to remember and what I remember is that the problem stayed in Britain. While we are happy to support your Aurors; that request must be made by your ministry by the Chief Witch or the Minister. Neither witch has contacted us for assistance. I actually had lunch with Madam Bones recently and she said that she would let us know if she needed any aid. Your pleas are not necessary."

I scowled at her. Before I could say anything, Brooks stood up.

"Albus, we have the proof that you stole from the vaults of students that were under your care and that you had Harry Potter in an abusive household. Your treatment of him led to his leaving Britain."

What? How had they found out?

"This is not the type of wizard that we want to represent Britain within this group, Albus. We have voted to oust you. Madam Longbottom assured us that she would send in your replacement. She should be here soon."

How could this happen? I felt the magic leave me as Brooks banged the gavel. How could they replace me? Don't they know who I am?! I am Albus Dumbledore! I glared at them and then everything went dark.

When I woke up again. I was on a stretcher. "Albus, you passed out. Are you feeling quite well? Do you need to go to a healer?" I looked at Brooks. I hate his smug, American face.

"No, I am fine." He nods and steps back.

"I am sure that you are familiar with Andromeda Tonks Black. She will be replacing you as the representative from Britain for the ICW."

I stared at Andromeda Tonks Black and all I could feel was fury. How dare those witches replace me and with another witch? What was she wearing anyway? That dress was way too form fitting. She was a mother for Merlin's sake.

"Hello Albus. I hope you are feeling better. Do have a nice day."

She breezed past me and started talking to Ricci. I noticed that the wizards in the room were looking at me. I decided to leave with some dignity. They would come crawling back and then I would have them right where I want them. No one fires Albus Dumbledore!

* * *

 **Hermione POV**

I decided to take a break from reading my new DADA book, which was so informative, to eat lunch. In the kitchen, things were so clean, they were sparkling. Mum must have stayed up all night to do this and still go to work. Maybe I should do more chores around the house. I can ask Mrs. Weasley about household cleaning charms. There is delicious chicken and corn on the cob in the cooler so I heat that in the microwave.

As I eat, I think about my friends. Maybe I need more. Who can I talk to? I decide to see if my mobile can contact Harry. It is worth a try. I enter his name and press the button to search.

I reach an automated message with hip hop music playing in the background. Loyal? Is he serious?

 _"_ _Hello, this is Harry Potter's answering service and I ask that you please listen to this message in its entirety. I appreciate your call. If you want to send a gift to me about that whole Voldemort deal, please just donate to the Lily Potter Foundation. We provide scholarships and we help with charities like the children's ward at St. Mungo's."_

The music changed to Good Kisser. _"If you are calling about a marriage contract or something of that nature, please forward all inquiries to my godfather, Lord Sirius Black. He can be reached through his goblin, Bloodfang at Gringott's."_

The music changed again to Beat It. _"It is true that I will not be at Hogwarts this year. I had a small problem with fake friends and it was just too dangerous for me. I know that Voldemort returned, but I am confident in our aurors and the ministry under the leadership of Madam Bones."_

Once again the music changed to Happy. _"I am actually the happiest that I have ever been and I am healthy. My summer has been wonderful and I appreciate all of your well wishes. Please be safe, ward your home, and remember to trust the goblins. Have a magical day."_ The call ended.

Wow. He was really not coming back. Fake friends. I know he meant me and Ron. How did he find out? What was I going to do without Harry Potter for a friend? Who was I without Harry and Ron to boss around?

I need to change. Before Hogwarts, I never would have treated someone like I treated Harry. He must hate me. It is not his fault that he is not as smart as I am, but I guess I rubbed it in. My mobile rang and I saw that the number was blocked. Who was calling me?

"Hello?"

"Is this Miss Dagworth-Granger?"

"Yes, it is."

"This is Cormac McLaggen. We are in Gryffindor together. I hope you do not mind me calling, but I saw you in Diagon Alley yesterday and I wanted to say hello. You left before I had the opportunity. I am calling to ask you on a date unless you really are in love with that imbecile Weasley."

What should I say? "No, I am not in love with Ronald. Far from it, actually. Where would this date take place, Cormac?" He chuckles.

"I was hoping that you would go with me to Mystic. It is a new smoothie place in Vertical Alley. We can talk and see if we want to do it again."

That did sound like fun. "That sounds fine, but how would we get there?"

"Surely you know about the Knight Bus? There is also the Party Bus."

"There is a party bus?"

"Yes, and it is more for kids like us. I can take the bus and meet you at your house if you agree. I will treat you today. Please dress casual. I am wearing cargo pants and a tee shirt."

He sounded sincere. I hope that he is not like Ron. "Okay. Let me get changed and I will be ready in about thirty minutes. Do you know where I live?"

"No."

I give him my address and race to get dressed. I love the new shampoo my mother bought. It made my hair a lot less frizzy. It was not as great as Daphne Greengrass' hair, but it was a great improvement over my usual messy hair. I actually care what it looks like.

I dress in a tee shirt I bought at Ollivander's that says "The Wand Chooses the Witch". It is red and kind of form fitting. I pair it with a skirt that my mother got for me. It is a ruffled denim skirt and I put on red sandals.

I grab my bag with just two books inside and wait at the front door for the bus to show up. I really hope that this guy is not a creep. I have my wand just in case. I leave a note for my parents and leave when I see the bus outside. Maybe I will get another friend after all.

* * *

 **Fred Prewett POV**

"Forge, these first years are amazingly smart." He grinned at me.

"Shut up and keep applying the salt. We should be free of the super glue soon, Gred."

I laugh. We are stuck to the wall outside the Room of Requirement. All of the wonderful and impressionable first years we brought with us are inside having a little playtime. We had challenged them at the Shrieking Shack to prank us and they banded together and they got us good.

They did leave our hands free and they even left us the salt. Little Ivan and Isaac said that they did not want to hurt us, only to make us laugh, and then he changed our hair blue and green and turned our pants into skirts. Well, he got Letty to do it. The house elves love these kids. They are inquisitive and they are slightly messy.

I pulled my hands free and called Laffy, our elf to help us. She popped in wearing a little skirt and a tee shirt that said "Who you calling a Witch?". She is so funny.

"Yes, Master Freddie? Oh, you got free. Do you need my help with your clothes?"

"Yes, Laffy. Please help me and my uglier brother to right ourselves. We have some kids to play with and pranks to pull."

She smiled at me and changed our clothes to have moving rainbows and gave us purple hair. I gave her a look and she huffed and changed us back to jeans and tee shirts.

"So, Master Freddie, if I wanted to clean at the Spinnet house or the Johnson house, would that be fine?"

"Sure, you can help Alicia and Angelina out. Do not be seen by muggles and if you want to swing by Lee's house, have a ball." She hugged me.

"Thank you, Master Freddie! I love when you and Master Georgy makes experiments and there be big messes! Have fun and do not get caught!" She pops away and I help George to his feet.

"That elf is so excitable, Gred." I smile.

"I know we picked her for her name, Forge, but she is so sweet! She pranks us! Okay, let's go in here and see what the kids have created."

We open the door and see a room full of arcade games, edible flowers, floating stars that sprinkled pixie dust, kids in race cars and huge bounce houses. I love these kids!

* * *

 **Sirius POV**

"Sirius, please stop making that noise."

I did not even realize that I was doing it again. I turn to Hestia as we were having our romantic carriage ride around the park and holding hands and it was nice, but it reminded me of Shrek. I love the donkey.

"Are we there yet?" She gave me an exasperated look.

"Sirius, we are going in a circle around the park. We are not going anywhere."

I wait a few more minutes and hum a song. It is wonderful to spend time with Hestia and all, but we are just sitting here. I already admired her gold dress and her shoes. I told her that I liked her nails and her hair. We kissed and we admired the trees.

The horse did not fly and Hestia had forbidden me from doing any magic on it. Now I am bored, and I always pull a prank when I am bored. Just ask Sebastian. He should be finding the disco ball and confetti any moment now. My mobile rang and I answered it gleefully.

"This is Lord Black. State your business." I have to answer it like that, but on the inside I am singing the Austin Powers song and saying 'Yeah Baby'.

"Sirius, this is Rhys and I need you to come and get us." Aw! He called me instead of Senor Slytherin pants.

"What is wrong, Rhys?" He laughs nervously.

"See right. I took Lu to the zoo and we were having a great time. Who knew that the Dursleys would decide to also visit the zoo today? They did not recognize us, but Luna recognized them. She got them stuck into the gorilla, giraffe and elephant exhibits. There was pandemonium, Sirius."

Damn. I should have gone to the zoo. This riding in circles is not exciting at all. Hestia would not even allow me to get my mack on. I have moves and she has a way to block all of them. She said that she talked to Nymphie and she wants to wait until we have our bonding ceremony. That is wonderful and all, but I told her we could do other things. She had glared at me like I was a damned death eater. I bet you Reggie is having a sexy time with his veela. Why me!

"Sirius, are you still there?" Oh, right.

"Yes, Rhys. So there was mass hysteria. How does that mean you need to be picked up?"

He sighs. "While everyone was running around, Luna broke into the panda exhibit and tried to make off with two baby pandas. She said they were adorable and that Neville will not let her play with his. She was caught and since I am with her, I am guilty by association. They let me call my guardian, and I picked you because I do not want the zoo to be demolished. Dear Old Uncle Marcus cannot handle being told no and did you notice how on edge he was yesterday? He might get a little hex happy."

Poor Little Luna. "Ok. Where is this zoo? I will be there soon. I have to change my clothes and get my car and all of that."

"We are near Surrey, Sirius. I will text you the address of the zoo. Thanks for coming." I hang up and turn to Hestia. I know she heard all of my conversation.

"I am sorry, dearest. I have to go and rescue Rhys." She smiles. She has a beautiful smile.

"That is fine, Sirius. I should go and check on Megan anyway."

We exit the carriage and walk behind a building and apparate back to my place. I changed into a blue dress shirt that has stripes and dark blue jeans and my boots. I look longingly at my tee shirt as I button my shirt over it. It says "Nothing but the Dog in Me". Draco got it for me.

I was almost to the front door when I heard a deadly voice. "You are an imbecilic man child and I will have my revenge on you. Do you know how long it took Jewel to remove the confetti from my bedroom! Why did you play "It's a Small, Small World" in my bedroom!? I hate that blasted song." I cannot help myself, I crack up laughing.

"They will play that song at Disney! Anyway, calm down. Prince, I would love to stay and fight with you, but I have to go and get Rhys and Luna. They are stuck at the muggle zoo. We can duel tomorrow for the kids. How about that?"

He glowers at me and mutters under his breath as he storms away. I love how his robe does that billowing thing! I leave and have Emmy pop me to an area near the zoo with my car. I drive the rest of the way and park. I take up three spaces, but I park. I wander into the zoo after paying for admission and find the main office. Inside, I ask for the manager. A burly man in a suit looks me up and down. He is my height, so he does not intimidate me.

"How can I help you?"

I look like the aristocrat my mother tried to raise and I respond. "I am Lord Black and my godson, Rhys is here with his friend. I understand there was an incident with the giraffes or the elephants or something?"

He scowls at me. "No, they are here because the little missy decided to try and steal two baby pandas. I have already called the police."

What a tool. I take out my wand and obliviate him a little bit. Police indeed. It's not like they actually made off with the pandas. I get him to show me to the room where the kids are waiting and Rhys just looks exasperated while Luna is humming to herself.

"Did you call your father, Luna?" She smiles at me.

"Yes and he promised that I can get a pet tomorrow. He said that I should not have taken these pandas from their parents and that they kind of worked here. Rhys gave me cotton candy and I think I got nargles for a few minutes. Those Dursleys are actually here! I told them to move and they still live in this town, Sirius. Maybe I lost it a little when I saw them. I am sorry."

The poor baby. I hugged her and rubbed her back. "Nonsense! You tried to help, Luna. Now let's get you out of here and maybe you kids will want to watch this movie called Grease with me later. Lucy said there is singing and dancing and everything!"

"Actually, Sirius, we would like that, but right now we promised to meet Draco and Astoria at Mystic first. I called him already. I just did not want to use 'you know what' here."

I wave him off. "It's cool. I am glad you called me. I was actually going in circles. Come on with me to the car. I will get you back home and you can leave from there. Nice tee shirts." His said "P.I.M.P." and hers said "PYT".

I drive them to a secluded spot and we call Jewel. She shows up with her little friend Emmy and they pop us home. I am really looking forward to the movie later. I love singing and dancing. But first, I need to play with my dog.

* * *

 **Draco Black POV**

Rhys said that he was coming soon, so I did not have to witness Longbottom getting his pimp on over at the next table much longer. Tori was sweet and she did not believe in staying at home and going to balls all of the time. She said that it was a boring life. We agree on that matter.

We went apple picking earlier at an orchard my family owns. I had heard it was a fun date thing to do. How was I supposed to know that the elves would get mad at us? They gave me a stern talking to and showed me charts and graphs. Apparently I was ruining their system.

I apologized while Tori laughed and they sent us to a muggle farm instead. Blossom, the head elf at the orchard, had promised to come and get us when we were finished and she did. We are having apple pie for dessert tonight thanks to me. We also donated some apples to an orphanage.

I hope Rhys had a better time at the muggle zoo with Luna. Oh, here he comes. Luna looks a little subdued. I like their shirts, though. I am just wearing my "Bad Boys for Life" shirt. I like to represent for the Dungeons. You know how we do. I crack myself up.

Rhys flops down next to me and orders a coffee and double chocolate smoothie with added chocolate covered coffee beans and puts on his baseball cap. Wow. He must have had a rough morning. We were having a seafood buffet dinner at Sirius' house later and then movie night. I wanted to see School Daze. I want to watch the girls do the butt.

"Rough day, Lex?" He looks at me and takes a spoonful of his smoothie.

"You might say that."

"Yes, but would you say that, Lex?" He eats some more of his thick smoothie.

"I almost got arrested, Drake."

"That is what you get for hanging with Slimy Slytherins."

Salazar, why me? I look up at Weasley and wonder who showed him how to get to Vertical Alley. His father does drive the bus now, but still. I thought he liked us.

"Hello, Weasley. It is nice to see you in something besides those wool jumpers. This is my friend, Lex and his betrothed Luna Lovegood. You remember Astoria Greengrass, my betrothed."

He gives us a look of pure loathing. "You must be a new snake. Looney, I should have known that you were really crazy! How could you associate with Malfoy of all people? You stay away from my sister, you stupid batty witch!"

Suddenly, he was a weasel and he was bouncing up and down. It was hilarious and it reminded me of when it happened to me and I was turned into a ferret. I looked at Lex and the expression on his face was one of dark glee. He moved his wand like a conductor and the weasel that used to be Weasley just kept bouncing and each bounce landed harder and harder on the ground.

Luna finally touched Lex on the shoulder and he stopped bouncing him. She levitated the dizzy animal away from the patio and undid the spell on him. We all turned away from the sight of Weasley retching. An elf popped in and snapped their fingers cleaning the mess.

Something about that scene was bothering me, though. I would have to think about it later. I looked at Lex and he looked at me. I smile at him.

"Nice one, Lex." He growled and kissed Luna on the forehead.

"No one insults my Luna."

"Rhys, really. Your smoothie will melt. Calm down. So, Draco I almost got us arrested for trying to free the baby pandas today."

I laugh because she is so silly sometimes. Theo and Millie sit down with their banana smoothies and we chat about our days.

"Well, that is a match I did not expect to see. She had better watch out for him."

What was Tori talking about? We all look up to the entrance where we see Granger and McLaggen coming inside. She is holding his arm and he is grinning. He looks like a used cauldron salesman. Why would she go on a date with him?

"That does not look like it will end well." I look at Lex. How would he know?

"He does have Heliopaths around him. She is not my favorite witch, but she does not deserve to have her Quidditch career started by that fool."

We stare at Luna. She rolls her eyes.

"She will not want to ride his broom. Go over there, Draco and tell her you have a book she can read. While you are there, vanish her drink and hex McLaggen."

"Why do I have to do it, Luna?"

"Because I said so." She is so bossy.

I go over and complete my mission and agree to send a copy of the book on magical creatures to Granger tomorrow. She thanks me and I vanish the drink and hex McLaggen. As I leave the table, I hear him ask her if he can come to her house to really get to know her better and she tells him no. He looks surprised.

I sit back down and we all watch Granger leave. She waves at me and I wave back. She may not be my friend, but no girl deserves to be slipped a love potion. I look at Luna and she is humming while putting her wand away. I notice McLaggen's hair is rainbow colored. That was my hex. When he stands up, his shirt says "Wand Inspector". Luna is so hilarious. Lex kisses her gently and she hugs him and whispers in his ear.

"Let's go, guys. I am ready to have our seafood feast." We all leave sickles on the table and head towards the Dragonfly. It is always a good idea to get checked for spells.


End file.
